Photo Courtesy of Bill Grenfell

LINCOLN, Neb. – For nearly 26 of the 40-minute game on Saturday, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team found themselves ahead on the scoreboard. The Lumberjacks gave Nebraska, a team receiving votes in the Top 25 National Coaches Rankings, all it could handle on its home court in front of 4,775 fans; but in the end the Cornhuskers flexed their muscles and stormed back for a 90-67 victory. NAU fell to 4-6 with the loss despite an encouraging effort and a dominating first half.

"Nebraska is a very good team and our execution both offensively and defensively was very good in the first half," said head coach Sue Darling. "What I take away from tonight is that when we play hard and we play together, we can beat anybody. While I'm disappointed in the loss, but with disappointment comes a blessing."

The Lumberjacks had the Cornhuskers stunned both on and off the court through the first 20 minutes, as they shot their way to a 46-37 advantage. Senior Mariah Willadsen spurred the Lumberjacks in the first half scoring all 11 of her points on 5-for-6 shooting. Yet, Willadsen was far from the only player in a groove in building NAU's advantage.

NAU opened the game on fire, knocking down three triples and shooting 50 percent in the first quarter on its way to a 23-16 lead. Willadsen scored seven points, junior Brittni Lusain scored six and junior Taylor Leyva came off the bench to score five in the first 10 minutes alone.

After Nebraska fought back to within three points at 33-30 with 3:36 left before the half, NAU responded out of its timeout with a 7-0 run. Lusain's layup coming out of the stoppage was followed by five straight points from freshman Alyssa Rader as the 'Jacks quickly built their lead back up to 10 before going into the break with a nine-point edge.

"Everything we do is team-oriented, and offensively it's always important that we share the ball," Darling said. "When we're open we need to make shots and we did that in the first half. What I like is that when we work on something, we get better. We're making great progress."

Rader scored the Lumberjacks' first seven points of the third quarter and NAU held a double-digit lead, 51-41, two minutes into the second half before the Cornhuskers turned up the heat themselves. Following a layup by junior Catelyn Preston, Nebraska scored the final 13 points of the quarter and in all used a 15-0 run to take a nine-point lead, 65-56, less than a minute into the final period.

Junior Rene Coggins and senior Monique Mulder followed with consecutive baskets to cut Nebraska's advantage to five, but that would be the closest NAU would get the rest of the game. Using the free throw line to its advantage, Nebraska would finish the game with the last 15 points to provide the final margin.

While the final margin was 23 points, it was not indicative of NAU's performance providing the Lumberjacks with much to build on following their play against the perennial NCAA Tournament participant.

"We know we can stick with any team if we play the way we did in the first half," Willadsen said. "We were making the extra pass in the first half and we were playing smart. It was a fun game, but I think we got a little ahead of ourselves in the second half and started turning the ball over."

Turnovers played a big factor in the second half as NAU committed 12 miscues in the final 20 minutes compared to just four before the intermission.

Three Lumberjacks finished in double-figure points led by Rader's 12. Willadsen scored 11 and Lusain added 10. Lusain posted a quality line along with her 10 points finishing with eight rebounds, six assists and a career-high five steals. Preston and Coggins each finished with nine points apiece.

NAU shot 41.4 percent for the game while Nebraska shot 51.6 percent. The Cornhuskers held the rebounding advantage at 47-36.

NAU plays its final non-conference game on Tuesday at Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. Tip-off is 1 p.m. Arizona time.