BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? For the better part of 36 minutes the CSUB women's basketball team seemed poised for a monumental upset. But a bigger, deeper Nebraska squad came from behind late to pull out a 66?62 win Thursday night at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield.
Junior guard Kelley Tarver (Valencia HS) led three CSUB scorers in double figures with a game?high 16 points. Naomi Johnson (Oxnard College) added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Kaitlyn Burke led Nebraska with 15 points and seven assists. Danielle Page led all rebounders with 13 boards, all defensive.
With Nebraska (8?2 overall) starting three players 6-foot-2 or taller and Bakersfield (5?5) starting nobody taller than 5?10, the game figured to be a classic David and Goliath matchup. And through most of the game, it followed the biblical storyline to the letter. But when Johnson, CSUB's starting center, fouled out with 5:03 remaining and the Roadrunners clinging to a 53?51 lead, David ran out of stones.
Nebraska tied the game at 53?53 on a Kelsey Griffin layup with 4:12 to play. Rosemary Stribling (West HS) made one freethrow on the ensuing CSUB possession to briefly restore the Bakersfield lead. But Bakersfield's only inside options in the final minutes were Stribling, who was playing in just her sixth game of organized basketball since 2004, and freshman reserve Shawnee Carter (Burroughs HS) as the last inside options, Nebraska's bigger inside contingent was able to turn the tide.
The Huskers eventually built their lead to as many as nine points late before a valiant Roadrunner comeback cut the deficit to three points at 65?62. Griffin then
made one free throw with two seconds remaining to put the game away.
CSUB will get one day to rest before returning to action Saturday when it travels north to face Central Valley rival Fresno State in the SaveMart Center at 1 p.m.
University of Nebraska 66, CSU Bakerersfield 62
UNIV. OF NEBRASKA (8-2) -- BURKE 5-8 0-0 15; MONTGOMERY 5-7 2-3 12; GRIFFIN 5-9 2-5 12; PAGE 3-10 1-4 7; HESTER 3-5 0-0 6; KELLEY 1-2 3-6 6; NEALS 2-8 0-0 5; TURNER 1-5 0-1 3; BOBER 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 8-19 66.
CSU BAKERSFIELD (5-5) -- TARVER 5-17 5-6 16; JOHNSON 6-13 2-3 14; ARASE 5-10 0-0 11; KEPENEKIAN 3-7 1-1 8; BELT 2-6 1-2 5; STRIBLING 0-7 4-6 4; CARTER 2-3 0-0 4; LEON 0-0 0-0 0; JONES 0-0 0-0 0; WEST 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 13-18 62.
3-point goals--UN 8-23 (BURKE 5-8; NEALS 1-6; KELLEY 1-2; TURNER 1-5; MONTGOMERY 0-2), CSUB 3-6 (KEPENEKIAN 1-1; ARASE 1-2; TARVER 1-1; STRIBLING 0-1; BELT 0-1). Fouled out--UN-HESTER, Tay, CSUB-KEPENEKIAN; JOHNSON. Rebounds--UN 37 (PAGE 13), CSUB 42 (JOHNSON 8). Assists--UN 18 (BURKE 7), CSUB 9 (ARASE 3). Total fouls--UN 18, CSUB 17. Technical fouls--UN-None, CSUB-None. A-590
