Lincoln – Emily Cady and Brandi Jeffery both recorded double-doubles, but Ohio State used a 15-0 run to end the first half to propel the Buckeyes to a 78-60 women’s basketball win over Nebraska on Senior Day for the Huskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
With the loss, Nebraska ended the regular season with a 20-9 overall record and a 10-8 Big Ten mark. Ohio State improved to 21-9 and 13-5 in the conference. The Buckeyes secured the No. 3 seed and a double bye at next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill., while Nebraska earned the No. 7 seed and a first-round bye.
The Huskers will play their first game at the Sears Centre Arena on Thursday, when they take on 10th-seeded Illinois. Tip-off between the Big Red and Fighting Illini is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised live by BTN.
Cady, a 6-2 senior forward from Seward, Neb., led the Huskers with 21 points and 13 rebounds to produce the 33rd double-double of her career and 11th of the season. Jeffery, a senior from Vacherie, La, notched the first double-double of her career with 10 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
Fellow senior Hailie Sample, a 6-1 forward from Flower Mound, Texas, pitched in nine points, six rebounds and three assists, while senior guard Tear’a Laudermill (Moreno Valley, Calif.), contributed eight points on the afternoon.
Nebraska’s four seniors ended their home career with a combined 55-11 record, on their way to a school-record 95 victories over the past four seasons The group combined for more than 500 appearances and more than 350 career starts.
The seniors, who combined for 48 points on the afternoon, had their Senior Day spoiled by Buckeye freshmen Kelsey Mitchell, Asia Doss and Shayla Cooper. Mitchell, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, erupted for 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Doss scored a season-high 14 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Cooper added 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Ameryst Alston gave Buckeyes four players in double figures with 12 points.
As a team, Ohio State hit 43.8 percent of its shots, including 10-of-23 three-pointers. The Buckeyes matched the Huskers on the glass, while winning the turnover battle, 12-9.
Nebraska, which matched Ohio State shot for shot for the first 16 minutes, went cold at the end of the first half and the cold shooting carried over to the second half.
The Huskers ended the game at just 31.4 percent (22-70), including just 6-of-22 from three-point range. NU hit just 27.5 percent of its second-half shots.
Nebraska and Ohio State were locked in a back-and-forth battle for the first 16 minutes, until Laudermill, who was guarding Mitchell for most of the first half, was whistled for her second foul of the game with 4:40 left.
Mitchell hit a pair of free throws to put Ohio State up 32-30 at that point, before Chandler Smith scored on a putback to tie the score at 32 with just under four minutes left. But the Buckeyes took control of the game, finishing the half on a 15-0 run that included Nebraska missing three layups and two open short jumpers.
Mitchell, who finished the half with 16 points, scored 10 without Laudermill on the floor in the final 4:40. Doss also had a big first half for the Buckeyes, knocking down her first three three-pointers of the half on her way to 11 points. Doss entered the game with 15 straight misses from long range.
Cady, Jeffery and Sample kept the Huskers in the game in the first half on Senior Day. Cady finished the half with 13 points and four rebounds, while Jeffery added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Sample pitched in seven points.
Nebraska cut the lead to 12 points early in the second half, but was unable to pull closer the rest of the way in the 18-point setback.
