At halftime Sunday, coach Lindsay Whalen said she felt pretty good.
Her Gophers women's basketball team, down 10 late in the second quarter, had pulled within seven points of Nebraska.
"And then," Whalen said, ''a buzz saw hit us."
The difference in the Gophers' 93-70 loss? A 15-3 Nebraska start to the second half, which turned a manageable game into a 19-point lead for the host Cornhuskers. A 30-13 third quarter in which Nebraska — playing amid some controversy in the program — sank 11 of 17 shots and turned five Gophers turnovers into 10 points, turning the game into a one-sided loss, the second in a row for Minnesota.
The Gophers (12-16, 5-11 Big Ten) scored 70 points, shot better than 44% and got to the free-throw line 22 times. And lost by 23 points.
Because Nebraska made 19 of 30 shots while scoring 52 second-half points. The Huskers shot 54.1% for the game, made 10 of 21 three-pointers and scored 44 points in the paint. Four players scored in double figures, led by Allison Weidner's career-high 23. The others: Isabelle Bourne (17), freshman center Alexis Markowski (15) and Sam Haiby (14).
For the Gophers, Sara Scalia again played with energy and grit. She scored 22 points, getting to double figures for the 18th consecutive time. She made two of five three-pointers — the only two threes the Gophers hit Sunday — but she was the only Gophers player in double figures until the fourth quarter. Kadi Sissoko scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, and Alexia Smith finished with 10 points.
