Lincoln, Neb. ? Kansas University women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson couldn’t much fault the comeback.
What led to it and what followed were another matter.
The Jayhawks rallied from a sluggish start and eventual 12-point deficit to force overtime, but ultimately fell to Nebraska, 75-61 in OT, on Sunday at Devaney Center.
“We can’t lose sight of what it felt like, what we were doing to get it back and force overtime,” Henrickson said. “A team that’s really, really good beat us the first half. But we found something special inside ourselves to get it into overtime.”
Once in overtime, though, the Huskers (11-6 overall, 1-2 Big 12) dominated, just as they did early.
“We’ve got to grow,” Henrickson said, “from a toughness factor.”
Carolyn Davis paced the Jayhawks (14-3, 1-2 Big 12) with her fifth double-double of the season, with 26 points and 10 rebounds. The 26 points were three shy of her season-best and five from tying her career-best.
Monica Engelman scored 14 points and tied her career-high with nine boards. She banked in a three-pointer that forced overtime, a less-than-picturesque bomb that left Henrickson smiling.
“Hey, good things happen when you’re aggressive,” Henrickson said of the three. “We have to go longer stretches where we’re aggressive. We were too passive early. We can’t start a game like that, especially on the road. We get there. We just can’t start the game there.”
Lindsey Moore led NU with 23 points, and Kaitlyn Burke added 20. Catheryn Redmon, a former teammate of KU guard Keena Mays, pulled down a game-high 17 boards — the most by a Kansas opponent this season.
After being down by eight at halftime and as many as a dozen, KU rallied to forge a 44-all tie with just under five minutes left.
One stretch in particular that led to that 40-28 deficit galled Henrickson.
“We’d throw it out of bounds, dribble it out of bounds, give it back to them … that’s nauseating as a player and from the bench,” Henrickson said. “When you’re wasting possessions, it’s difficult to build anything offensively.”
NU went 5-for-6 from the field, 2-for-2 from three-point range and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line in overtime, while KU was 1-for-10 from the field, 1-for-6 from three and 2-for-2 from the line.
Kansas will play host to No. 1-ranked Baylor on Wednesday. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
