A cold shooting night doomed the Husker women’s basketball team to defeat against Duke in the NCAA regional semifinal in Norfolk, Virginia yesterday. The six seed Big Red shot just 30 percent and missed 21 of their 24 three-point attempts in a 53-45 loss to the number two seeded Blue Devils. Nebraska defended well, holding Duke to just 33 percent shooting themselves, but were unable to take advantage. The Huskers were within eight points just inside of eight minutes to play when leading scorer Jordan Hooper sprained her ankle and had to leave the game. She finished with six points. Lindsey Moore scored 11 points and handed out six assists in her final game in a Husker uniform. The Huskers finish their season with a 25-9 overall mark and their second Sweet 16 appearance in program history.

The Husker baseball team is off to a 5-1 start in Big Ten play after an 8-6 win over Northwestern in Lincoln on Sunday gave them a weekend sweep of the Wildcats. Pat Kelly’s four-hit, four-RBI day led the Huskers offense and spared them the need for dramatic comebacks, as were necessary in the wins on Friday and Saturday. Nebraska improved to 11-15 with the sweep. They’re back in action Tuesday night, traveling to take on Kansas State.

Tatum Edwards’ complete game two-hitter lifted the 19th-ranked Husker softball team to a 7-1 victory over Illinois in Champaign and a series win over the Illini. Edwards fanned six on her way to picking up her sixteenth win of the season in the circle. Brooke Thomason and Hailey Decker each drove in a pair of runs in the winning effort. The Huskers are 4-1 in Big Ten play and 25-7 overall. They play at Creighton Wednesday night.

With a road series win in the Big Ten already under their belt, the Husker baseball team opens their first home conference series of the season tonight in the first of three scheduled games against Northwestern. The Huskers took two out of three at Illinois last weekend, but a mid-week loss to Kansas State dropped their record to 8-15 overall. Tonight’s game against the Wildcats is their first at Hawks Field after 12 consecutive road games. Northwestern is also 2-1 in Big Ten play, and 10-6 overall. A series win this weekend would move Nebraska to the 2,000 win mark in program history. Tonight’s pitching matchup sees Nebraska’s Christian DeLeon facing off against Wildcats ace Zach Morton. First pitch at Hawks Field is scheduled for 6:35. Saturday and Sunday’s games take place at 2:05 and 1:05 respectively.

From a fifteen-game winning streak to a two-game losing skid, the Denver Nuggets are hoping to get off the schneid. They’ll probably have to do it without their starting point guard. Ty Lawson is unlikely to play tonight as the Nuggets host the Brooklyn Nets at Pepsi Center. It would be the fourth game in five that Lawson has missed. The Nuggets are glad to be back home, where they are 32-3 this season. Tipoff is set for 8 PM.

The Cactus League schedule ended in defeat for the Colorado Rockies yesterday, as they fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2. Dexter Fowler had two hits and Carlos Gonzalez drove in a run for the Rockies, who pulled their regulars after two at-bats. The Rockies conclude Cactus League play with a 16-14 record. They are off today, traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah for an exhibition game against the Mariners on Saturday. That will be their final tuneup before their regular season opens Monday in Milwaukee.

The Rockies made a handful of roster announcements yesterday, including the return of a couple of favorites from happier times in the organization. Yorvit Torrealba, previously with the club from 2006 to 2009, has won the backup catcher’s job over Ramon Hernandez, who will be designated for assignment. The Rockies also have signed Aaron Cook, the winningest pitcher in club history, to a minor league contract. Cook pitched for Boston last season and was waived by Philadelphia this spring. The Rockies also announced that Chris Nelson would start the season at third base, meaning top prospect Nolan Arenado would start the year at Triple-A.

Several North Platte Community College basketball players have received postseason honors after lifting the Knights and Lady Knights to national tournament appearances. For the Knights men, sophomore Ben Wilson and freshman Ethan Montalvo were named second team All-Region IX. Wilson, from Bardon, Queensland, Australia, averaged 9.9 points per game, while Montalvo, from Omaha, led the Knights with 15.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. For the Lady Knights, sophomore Paige Hasty and freshman D’Vontaye Merritt were named First Team All-Region IX and First Team All-Conference. Hasty, from Holdrege, led North Platte with 14.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and Merritt scored 12.9 points per game. Hasty, Merritt, and freshman Jordan Dickerson were named to the All-Region Tournament team, and freshman Courtney Widick was named Honorable Mention All-Conference.

The Husker football team completed a two-hour full pad work out yesterday at the Hawks Championship Center. Head coach Bo Pelini spoke to the media after the workout. He says he’s pleased with the way his players are showing the work ethic necessary to get better as a team this spring. “We have a lot of guys with a lot to learn, it is a process. It’s one that doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a lot of hard work.” Pelini said, “I think we have a lot of young guys who kind of got hit with the realization of the type of hard work– the type of attention to detail required to have success in this. I think that realization comes in a lot of different ways, but it affects guys, it allows them to keep growing, and I think that is what’ happening with this team.” Pelini also said that Ameer Abdullah is fine after suffering an ankle injury earlier this spring, but he will not return to spring practice as a precautionary measure. The Huskers have four practices left before the spring game April 6.

The Denver Nuggets lost their second straight game, falling 100-99 to the Spurs in San Antonio. The Nuggets had a chance to win on the final possession of the game, but Andre Miller’s runner in the paint was no good at the buzzer. Javale McGee led Denver with 21 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in the loss. Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler both returned from injury, but Lawson in particular was ineffective, scoring just two points. The Nuggets host the Brooklyn Nets Friday night.