Marquette University Athletics
Marquette Women Lose to Nebraska, 66-57
3/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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MILWAUKEE ? Marquette?s Thursday night effort wasn?t enough to topple Nebraska in a 66-57 Al McGuire Center loss in the 2005 Postseason Sportsview.tv WNIT First Round Game. The Golden Eagles close out the season with a 18-12 record while the Cornhuskers advance to the second round of the WNIT with a 18- 13 record.
Marquette?s biggest struggle came from the three-point line as the team went 2- for-20 with both treys coming late in the game from Lesley Juedes. Nebraska, however, connected on seven of 15 from behind the arc.
?If you look over the stat sheet that?s the glaring thing,? coach Terri Mitchell said. ?I told our players we have good shooters, we were open and it wasn?t like we were blindly shooting threes. We just didn?t knock them down. It?s our home court and we shoot well, but it just wasn?t there for us tonight.?
Kiera Hardy began things quickly for Nebraska in the first half, scoring its first eight points, getting 16 in the half. After Hardy?s quick beginning, Marquette struggled to match the Cornhuskers? intensity. The Golden Eagles committed six turnovers in the half leading to six Nebraska points.
?The first eight minutes they got 20 points and that?s not our style,? Jasmine McCullough said. ?We didn?t get it done on defense and we had to fight our way back and we didn?t catch up from there.?
Hardy led the Cornhuskers in scoring with 21 points, Jelena Spiric had 13 and Chelsea Aubry added 11.
Down 20-11 early, the Marquette defense was able to hold the Cornhuskers scoreless for four minutes minuets before Hardy scored five fast points to extend the lead 25-15.
The Golden Eagles closed to within four points, 28-24, off a Carolyn Kieger jump shot at the 5:36 mark. Nebraska wasn?t down long, however, coming back to score 11 points in the last five minutes of the half to claim a 39-28 lead going into the break.
Kieger led Marquette scorers with 14 points, McCullough had 13 and Quaye chipped in 10.
The Golden Eagles were able to chip away at the Cornhuskers? halftime lead by taking advantage of their 5-13 shooting in the opening seven minutes. Marquette continued to struggle from the field, however, and was not able to capitalize on Nebraska?s drought.
?It?s always disappointing when you end your season on a loss but there?s only one team in the WNIT that?s going to not feel that way,? Mitchell said. ?Nebraska did a great job coming out shooting in the game and we didn?t have an answer for Hardy.?
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