LINCOLN, Neb. – Tara Roelofs and Kayla Timmerman combined for 44 points as the No. 16 Winona State women's basketball team put up a strong effort in a 96-66 loss to Division I Nebraska Sunday afternoon in front of 4,526 spectators at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.
The Warriors hung with the Huskers for much of the game, outscoring the Huskers 47-39 in the second and third quarters.
Roelofs scored a team-high 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and also led the team with five rebounds. Timmerman added 21 points in 24 minutes, going 9-of-15 from the field while hitting a pair of three pointers and grabbing four rebounds.
WSU would have to dig out of an early hole as Nebraska jumped out to a 22-2 lead to open the game and led 28-9 after the first quarter.
But the Warriors wouldn't go away quietly. After Nebraska upped its lead to 32-9, WSU made a run of its own, as four points from Roelofs, back-to-back jumpers from Timmerman, a 3-pointer from Connor Nagle and another shot from Timmerman cut the lead to just 14 at 36-22 midway through the second quarter. Nagle would shortly thereafter hit a second 3-pointer, followed by a jumper and a 3-pointer from Timmerman to cut the deficit to only 11 at 41-30 before Nebraska got the lead back to 16, 53-37, at halftime.
The third quarter lead fluctuated between 14 and 18 points until another 3-pointer from Timmerman cut it to 63-50 with 2:40 to play in the third quarter. A pair of Jenny Tuttle free throws late in the quarter cut it back to 11 at 67-56 and that's where the third quarter would end.
Nebraska jumped out to an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter to put the game away, eventually claiming a final score. The Huskers were led by Jessica Shepard, one of Division I's top post players, who was 16-of-19 from the floor and scored a game-high 42 points in 25 minutes.
The Huskers shot 50.7 percent from the field while the Warriors finished at 38.2 percent. WSU was the better team from long range, making 7 of 22 shots while the Huskers hit just 3 of 14.
Nagle added eight points on 3-of-9 shooting with two 3-pointers, and Emily Wirth added seven points.
Winona State (3-0) gets back into regular season action Saturday when it hosts Saint Mary's at 7 p.m. in McCown Gymnasium.
