Buffs Fall to Huskers in Regular Season Finale

LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska blew open a close game with a big second half on its senior night as the Huskers defeated the Buffaloes 90-70 Tuesday night at the Devaney Center in the regular season finale for both teams.

Colorado (12-16, 6-10) still finishes Big 12 Conference play with its best record since the 2003-04 season and will have to wait until the rest of the league finishes action Thursday to find out where it stands in the upcoming Big 12 Championship, Mar. 6-10, in Oklahoma City.

Sophomore Hannah Skildum scored a career-high 16 points, shooting seven of 10 from the field and freshman Whitney Houston pitched in 13 for the Buffaloes who can finish no lower than a tie for ninth place and will be seeded either No. 8, 9 or 10 with a first round game Tuesday, March 6.

Nebraska outscored the Buffaloes 54-39 in the second half while shooting 65.4 percent from the field. Senior guard Kiera Hardy led all players with 22 points including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Classmate Ashley Ford had 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 night from the field. The Huskers were 10-of-19 from beyond the arc as a team.

Jackie McFarland had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Buffaloes as she becomes the sixth player in team history with 300 rebounds in one season, sitting right at 300 after tonight.

Nebraska, which had shot just 39 percent during its four-game losing streak, opened up the game on a 26-12 run hitting nine of their first 18 shots.

Houston provided the bulk of the Colorado offense in the first half scoring 11 points on 5-of-10 from the field. Her driving lay up with four seconds left in the first half capped a 19-10 run as the Buffaloes pulled to within five at 36-31 at the half.