LINCOLN, Neb. – In a back-and-forth defensive clash with 11 lead changes, Rutgers women's basketball (5-3, 1-3) was edged, 53-50, on the road by Nebraska (5-3, 3-2) on Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
 
The Huskers' timely 9-0 run near the start of the fourth quarter was just enough to survive the Scarlet Knights' counterpunch down the stretch. A Diamond Johnson basket made it a one-point game at 51-50 with 1:38 to play before Nebraska's free throws and defense closed out a home victory.
 
Johnson netted a game-high 19 points with a career-high six rebounds. Tekia Mack played all 40 minutes for a second-straight game following her return from injury, putting together a stuffed stat line of 13 points, seven boards, two assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
Rutgers led for 20 of the 40 minutes, but never by more than five points. RU's last lead came at 44-43 two minutes into the fourth quarter.
 
Johnson scored the first five points of the game and a 6-0 run shortly after created a five-point cushion for RU midway through the first quarter, but open shots swiftly became rare as the defensive clamps tightened on both ends of the court. The Huskers beat the halftime buzzer with a lay-in for a 24-23 lead while outshooting the Scarlet Knights, 33 to 30 percent in the opening half. The two sides combined to shoot 1-of-17 from beyond the arc in the opening half, with Nebraska going 0-of-10.
 
The Big Red began to balance their three-point shooting in the third, making three consecutive shots from distance on a 9-0 run to take a 38-29 lead at 4:11 in the third. Rutgers immediately answered with an 11-1 rally over the next 3:26 of game clock with a three by Tekia Mack and four points from Johnson.
 
Nebraska's fateful 9-0 spurt spanned two minutes from 8:09 to 6:03 in the fourth quarter. Mack chipped away with four more points, but RU could only manage three buckets over the final five minutes.
 
The Huskers outrebounded Rutgers, 47-34, and converted 9-of-11 shots from the free throw line. Rutgers only scored 14 points off 19 forced turnovers.
 
The Scarlet Knights return home to host Purdue in a Big Ten contest on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. at the RAC, airing live on Big Ten Network.
 
NOTES

• Diamond Johnson has scored in double-figures in all eight of her collegiate games and has eclipsed 18 or more in four-straight games.
• Rutgers' single-season scoring average record is 86.2 points per game from the 1978-79 season. Rutgers is now at 81.3 for the season.
• Rutgers' single-season record for free throw percentage is .734 from the 1980-81 season. RU made 6-of-8 on Sunday and now stands at .790 for the year.
• Leading the country in steals at 16.1 per game before Sunday, RU maintained that national lead with 11 against Nebraska.
• RU has had double-digit steals in seven of eight games this season.
• Arella Guirantes has 1,472 career points, the 14^th most of any player in history to wear the Scarlet Knights uniform. She has scored 1,184 of those at Rutgers.
• Freshman Chyna Cornwell scored her first collegiate points in the contest.
• Rutgers is now 5-4 in the all-time series and 4-4 as regular season Big Ten opponents. Nebraska is 3-1 when the series is played at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• C. Vivian Stringer rolled out the Starting 5 of Diamond Johnson, Arella Guirantes, Mael Gilles, Tekia Mack and Tyia Singleton for the first time this season.

 
 
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