The struggles for Nebraska women’s basketball continued Thursday at Oregon, as the Ducks surged in the fourth quarter to defeat the Cornhuskers, 80-76. The loss was Nebraska’s sixth in a row and ninth in the last 11.
Britt Prince led the Huskers (16-11, 5-11 Big Ten) with 18 points, while Logan Nissley added 15, Jessica Petrie tallied 12 and Petra Bozan and Amiah Hargrove scored 11 each. Ehis Etute led Oregon (19-9, 7-8 Big Ten) with 21 points, while Katie Fiso notched 19. Janiyah Williams added 12 for the Ducks.
Oregon grabbed a 10-2 run in the middle of the first quarter, opening a 15-8 lead with 6:13 to go in the first. The Ducks led from there until a 5-0 run in the final two minutes of the quarter by Nebraska, tying the game at 20 through one quarter. The Huskers started the second quarter on a 6-0 run, taking a 26-20 lead with just under eight minutes to go in the half. Prince had four of the six points during the streak. A 5-0 NU run late in the quarter built a 37-26 lead with two minutes remaining in the half, but Oregon ended the half on a 7-0 run to shrink the Huskers’ advantage to 37-33 at halftime.
A Sofia Bell three-pointer to start the third quarter extended the Ducks’ run to 10-0 and cut Nebraska’s lead to 37-36, but then the Huskers answered with a lightning-quick 8-0 run in just over a minute. Bozan sparked it with a three and a two, and Nissley drained a three to extend Nebraska’s lead to 45-36 with 7:27 to go in the third quarter, forcing Oregon to take time out. After a Ducks basket, the Huskers ran five straight points to push the lead back to 50-38 with 5:53 to go in the third quarter. Oregon went on an 8-0 run to pull within 50-46, but Nebraska held off the Ducks and went to the fourth quarter leading 61-52.
Hargrove hit a layup on the first possession of the final period to grow the Huskers’ lead to 63-52. But Oregon answered with a 10-2 run, shrinking Nebraska’s lead to 65-62 with 6:25 to go and forcing Amy Williams to take a timeout. Prince hit a putback shot to stop the run and open the Huskers’ lead back to five, 67-62. The Ducks stormed back with a 14-3 run, taking a 76-70 lead with 1:06 remaining. Nebraska cut the lead to two but drew no closer and Oregon held on to win. The Huskers were an ice-cold 0-for-12 from behind the arc.
Nebraska is next in action Sunday at Washington at 2 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.