Evanston, Ill. – Tear’a Laudermill scored 16 of her 20 points in the second-half to help No. 21 Nebraska cut a 24-point deficit to six with over two minutes left before falling 59-51 to the Northwestern women’s basketball team at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday.

With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 18-8 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern improved to 20-6 overall and 10-5 in the conference.

The Huskers, who shot just 10.7 percent (3-28) from the floor in the first half, fell behind 43-19 with just over 14 minutes left in the game, before going on an 8-0 run to cut the margin to 43-27 after back-to-back baskets by Laudermill with 9:42 left.

Karly Roser, who finished with 10 points for Northwestern, stopped the run with a three-pointer with two seconds on the shot clock at the 8:50 mark. However, it was Northwestern’s only field goal in a 10-minute stretch. Roser added nine rebounds and five assists.

Allie Havers, who scored four points and grabbed for rebounds for the Big Red, started a new run with a jumper with 7:02 left before Laudermill and freshman Natalie Romeo hit three straight three-pointers to cap an 11-0 surge in just 3:03 to cut the Wildcat margin to eight points at 46-38 with 3:59 left. Romeo finished with 13 points, including three second-half threes.

After a Northwestern timeout, Ashley Deary hit a jumper for the Wildcats, before Laudermill answered with four straight points to trim the lead to 48-42 with 2:04 remaining – the smallest Wildcat lead since scoring the first eight points of the game.

The Big Red could get no closer, but remained within six points at 50-44 and 53-47 after Laudermill’s second and final three with 49 seconds left.

Northwestern hit six straight free throws down the stretch to seal its 20th win, giving the Wildcats their first 20-win season since 1995-96.

Nia Coffey led the Wildcats with 17 points and 14 rebounds for her sixth consecutive double-double. Deary finished with 10 points, five assists and three steals.

The Huskers struggled through one of the worst shooting halves in school history, knocking down just 3-of-28 shots in the first half, including 0-for-9 threes. Despite their shooting woes, the Huskers outscored Northwestern 6-4 in the final seven minutes of the half to trail 29-12.

Nebraska finished just 29.4 percent (19-65) from the floor and 21.7 percent (5-23) from three-point range, but outshot the Wildcats in the second half. The Huskers hit 43.2 percent (16-37) after halftime, including 5-of-14 threes. The Big Red also went 8-for-10 from the line for the game.

Northwestern hit 41.4 percent (24-58) of its shots for the game, including 31.3 percent (5-16) from long range and 6-of-9 free throws.

Nebraska outrebounded Northwestern, 46-39, including 18-9 on the offensive glass. Emily Cady managed just four points for the Big Red, but led the Huskers with 12 rebounds including seven on the offensive end. Fourteen of the Huskers’ 39 second-half points came on putbacks. The Wildcats won the turnover battle, 16-10.

Prior to tip-off, Nebraska Coach Connie Yori announced the first-team All-Big Ten point guard Rachel Theriot will undergo season-ending surgery on her left ankle on Thursday. Theriot was Nebraska’s leading scorer with 16.5 points and 5.2 assists per game. She started Nebraska’s first 21 games this season but has missed the Huskers’ last five games with the injury.

The Huskers play their final regular-season conference road game on Saturday, when they travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana. Tip-off between the Huskers and Hoosiers is set for 11 a.m. (CT) with live national television coverage by the Big Ten Network.

Two of the Big Ten’s newest members meet for the first time Thursday evening, as Nebraska travels to No. 16/15 (AP/Coaches) Maryland.

Tipoff from the XFINITY Center is set for 6:06 p.m. (central) and the contest will be televised nationally on BTN with Dave Revsine and Jim Jackson on the call. Thursday’s game is also available online and on mobile devices on BTN2Go.

The game will be broadcast across the state of Nebraska on the 37-station IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington with Kent Pavelka calling the action and Matt Davison adding color commentary. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and is available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices, as well as on TuneIn Radio and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

The Huskers (13-12, 5-8 Big Ten) battled at Purdue before succumbing 66-54. Nebraska held the Boilermakers to 39 percent shooting, but struggled on the boards, as a 44-29 deficit on the glass led to Purdue scoring 23 second-chance points – only the third time the Huskers allowed at least 15 second-chance points this season. Purdue also got to the foul line 30 times, compared to nine for the Huskers, as NU remained winless on the road in Big Ten play.

One positive from Sunday’s loss was the play of junior forward Walter Pitchford, as the junior had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. Pitchford has been in double figures twice in the last four contests after reaching the mark once in NU’s first nine Big Ten outings.

Pitchford joined juniors Shavon Shields (19 points) and Terran Petteway (13) to give the Huskers a trio of double-figure efforts against the Boilermakers. Shields had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, as the Huskers shot 50 percent in the second half against the Big Ten’s best field goal defense.

Shields, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been in double figures in each of the last eight contests and could match the longest streak of double-figure efforts in his career on Thursday.
Maryland (21-5, 9-4 Big Ten) are tied with Purdue for second in the conference standings heading into the final three weeks of the season. The Terrapins feature one of the best freshmen in the country in point guard Melo Trimble, who averages 15.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In addition, Dez Wells and Jake Layman key a Maryland team which is 15-1 at home this season with the only loss coming to Virginia, which is ranked second in this week’s poll, in December.

The No. 21 Nebraska women’s basketball team returns to Big Ten road action this week beginning with a Wednesday night clash at surging Northwestern.

Tip-off between the Big Red (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten) and the Wildcats (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten) at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., is set for 7 p.m. (CT).

Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM in Lexington. Live premium video will be provided by BTN Plus.

The Huskers are coming off a 70-63 win over Wisconsin in front of a season-high crowd of 8,622 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Sunday afternoon. Freshman guard Natalie Romeo led Nebraska with a career-high 21 points while matching a career high with four assists. Senior guard Tear’a Laudermill added 20 points and a career-high seven assists. Senior forwards Emily Cady and Hailie Sample combined for 17 points and 17 rebounds to help the Huskers.

While Nebraska got back on the winning track after dropping three straight games to top-25 teams, the Wildcats extended their winning streak to five straight games with a 63-62 win at Michigan on Saturday afternoon. Each of the last four games for Northwestern have been possession games, including a 73-65 overtime win at Purdue, a 64-58 home win over Illinois and a 75-69 victory at Indiana. In fact, eight of the Wildcats’ last nine games have been decided by single digits, including a one-point win at Illinois, a three-point loss against Iowa and a one-point loss at Penn State.

Like Northwestern, Nebraska is no stranger to close games. In fact, only three of Nebraska’s 11 road games this season have been decided by more than six points, including a 21-point win at Washington State (Nov. 19), a 17-point win at Wisconsin (Jan. 22) and a 12-point loss at No. 5 Maryland (Feb. 8).

The last three meetings between Nebraska and Northwestern have been decided by five points or less, including a 63-59 Husker loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 26, 2014, and a 66-65 Nebraska win in Lincoln on Jan. 2, 2014. The Big Red also beat Northwestern, 55-50, in Evanston on Feb. 7, 2013.

#21 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-7, 8-6 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 12.0 ppg, 10.2 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 13.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 7.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 16.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg
or 5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 6.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg
or 22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg
or 30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg
Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.8 ppg, 0.2 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg
11 –  Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – Redshirting
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (259-149); 25th Season Overall (454-289)

Northwestern Wildcats (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten)
10 – Nia Coffey – 6-1 – So. – F – 15.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg
5 – Alex Cohen – 6-5 – Sr. – C – 9.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg
3 – Ashley Deary – 5-4 – So. – G – 9.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg
25 – Maggie Lyon – 6-1 – Jr. – G – 14.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
42 – Karly Roser – 5-10 – Sr. – G – 4.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Off the Bench
22 – Christen Inman – 5-10 – So. – G – 11.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg
11 – Lauren Douglas – 6-2 – Jr. – F – 10.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
12 – Lydia Rohde – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 0.9 ppg, 0.2 rpg
30 – Allie Tuttle – 6-4 – So. – F/C – 1.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg
13 – Nof Kedem – 5-6 – Jr. – G – 0.8 ppg, 0.5 rpg
Head Coach: Joe McKeown (Kent State, 1979)
7th Season at NU (107-107); 29th Season Overall (616-281)