Photo by Rachel Seymour

Erica Hallman, junior guard, makes her way around Nebraska’s Elena Diaz and toward the basket Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb. Hallman brought in a total of 12 points and eight assists for the Jayhawks that night.

LINCOLN, Neb. — A Jayhawk team that rode a two-game winning streak into Nebraska came out firing again from long range, but the Cornhuskers proved to be an elusive target for the Jayhawks’ third consecutive Big 12 Conference victory.

Kansas, 9-9 (2-5 Big 12), hung with Nebraska for the first 20 minutes of play, but Jayhawk miscues and shooting lapses brought another conference defeat, 59-48.

While the Kansas offense managed the ball well in the first half, 15 second-half turnovers provided instant offense and enough ammunition for the Cornhuskers to pull away. Nebraska, 12-7 (4-3), scored 20 points off turnovers.

“Their pressure was good,” Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “Our offense became their offense.”

Inside scoring keyed the regular offensive sets for Nebraska, which scored 32 points in the paint. Cornhusker freshman forward Danielle Page came off the bench for 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The usual offensive leader for Nebraska, Kiera Hardy, was held down by Kansas in the first half with two points, but closed out with 17.

“I thought we did a good job on Hardy for the first 30 minutes,” Henrickson said.

Despite the shutdown of Hardy, the sophomore guard woke up following halftime.

“She’s a streaky person,” junior forward Crystal Kemp said of Hardy. “Once the mental part comes, the physical comes, too.”

As Hardy found her stroke and the Kansas offense slowed because of execution problems, Nebraska expanded its advantage and took over the game. For the first 20 minutes, the game appeared to be heading for another close finish as the Jayhawks had endured in their previous three contests.At the break, the Jayhawks found themselves in another tight contest, trailing 28-27.

Junior guard Kaylee Brown led the way for the Jayhawks in the first half with 11 points, making all four of her shots from the floor, including three attempts from behind the three-point line. Brown’s long range shots provided eight points in less than a minute to spark the early offense.

“Kaylee Brown hit some tough shots and hit some shots on busted plays,” Henrickson said.

Defensive focus on Crystal Kemp and on-ball screens opened up the floor for Brown to shoot from outside. Brown scored only four after the break to close with 15.

“When we have Crystal Kemp down low and they’re pinching her, things open up,” Brown said.

Following the quick start from the floor in the first 10 minutes, Brown sat out the rest of the half with foul trouble.

With Brown’s perimeter scoring gone, the Jayhawk offense shifted to Kemp. Kemp‘s scoring was limited to eight points because of Nebraska’s tall starting lineup that features three players over six feet tall.

The Cornhusker front line dominated the scoring and accounted for 20 of the 28 first half points. Kemp scored 10 points and was held to six rebounds. Hardy looked to open up her offense in the second half with a three-pointer on Nebraska’s opening possession and a quick score on the next Cornhusker trip down the floor.

The early strikes for Hardy, a Kansas City, Mo., native, woke up the Big 12’s second leading scorer as she finished with 15 second half points.

After a perfect first half, Brown started up again following the intermission by nailing another long distance shot on the first Jayhawk possession. Then Brown’s hot hand cooled as she missed her next two shots and then was removed from the game at the 13:47 mark with her third foul.

As the perimeter scoring slowed to a halt, Kansas’ inside game also stalled and the Jayhawks put up only 10 points in the first 12:32 of the second half. During this stretch, the Cornhuskers enhanced its lead to 12 points, 49-37.

Turnovers that fueled the Nebraska run plagued the entire Kansas second half. While the Jayhawks committed eight turnovers in the first half, Kansas gave it away 15 times in the second frame. Junior guard Erica Hallman, the second leading scorer for the Jayhawks, scored 12 points on only four-for-15 shooting. Hallman recorded eight assists, but turned the ball over six times. Kansas hosts Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Edited by Lori Bettes