FREMONT – Here’s a look at local sports today with Rich Ray:
Husker Women’s Basketball
Isabelle Bourne led four Huskers in double figures with a career-high 22 points, but Nebraska still suffered an 83-72 women’s basketball loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Bourne, who hit 10-of-17 shots from the field including a pair of three-pointers, added seven rebounds while playing a career-high 38 minutes for the Huskers. Nebraska slipped to 3-3 overall with the setback and 1-2 in the Big Ten with its second straight road loss in the state of Indiana. Purdue improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the win.
Nebraska will enjoy several days for the holiday break before returning to action against defending Big Ten regular-season champion Northwestern. Tip-off between the Huskers and No. 16 Wildcats is set for 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Creighton Basketball
In a typical BIG EAST battle No. 13 Creighton men’s basketball outlasted No. 22 Xavier 66-61 on Wednesday, Dec. 22 to deal the Musketeers their first loss of the season.
The win lifted the Bluejays to 7-2 on the season and 3-1 in BIG EAST action, while Xavier fell to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. It’s the eighth straight season Creighton has picked up at least one top-25 win, and helped CU improve to 248-52 in 300 all-time games at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Creighton returns to the floor on Jan. 2 in a road game at Providence at 11:00 am Central.
UNO Hockey
The NCHC announced today that Omaha junior forward Taylor Ward has been named the conference’s Forward of the Week. He is the Mavericks’ second weekly award winner.
Ward tied for the team scoring lead with five points during three games in the NCHC Pod at Baxter Arena last week. He began the week by scoring the game-tying goal in a 2-2 tie and shootout win over No. 3 Minnesota Duluth. He followed that game with two goals and two assists to lead the Mavericks to a 6-5 come-from-behind win over Western Michigan on Friday.
The No. 11 Mavericks return to action on Dec. 31-Jan. 1 when they host North Dakota to start the second half of the NCHC schedule. Both games start at 6:07 p.m.
