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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois led for most of the game but No. 19 Nebraska scored 15 of the contest's final 19 points to pull out a 58-53 win over the Illini in front of a season-high crowd of 3,263 at State Farm Center Sunday. Freshman Amarah Coleman tied her career high with 18 points and Kyley Simmons added 10 in Illinois' first full game without leading scorer Ivory Crawford.

"Disappointed for our team," Illini head coach Matt Bollant said. "We worked really hard in the second half to build a six-point lead and I felt like we had a chance to bury them, and we missed some shots. And then we did a really poor job of finding (Rachel) Theriot and keeping her from getting open looks. She was really great down the stretch. Give her credit for stepping up and making a lot of plays, and to Nebraska for finding their shooter. But disappointed because we had an opportunity to have about as good a week as Illinois has ever had and we missed it. Give Nebraska credit for coming here and getting the job done."

Neither team shot particularly well, with Illinois (11-5 overall, 2-2 in the Big Ten) coming in at 35 percent (21-of-60) including 6-of-20 (30 percent) from long range, and Nebraska (12-3, 2-2) hitting shots at a 36.2 percent (21-of-58) rate and 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from downtown. But the Huskers won the game at the free-throw line, hitting 14-of-22 (63.6 percent), while Illinois was just 5-of-6 from the stripe in the game and only 2-of-2 in the second half.

Coleman made a career-best eight field goals, going 8-of-16 from the floor for her 18 points. Simmons had 10 points, Chatrice White scored nine points and had nine rebounds, and Jacqui Grant pulled down eight rebounds in Illinois' lowest scoring output of the season.

The Illini battled some early turnover issues, committing five miscues in the first 8:03 as Nebraska led 12-10 at the under-12 media timeout. But Illinois fought back with an 8-2 run, including three-pointers by Amarah Coleman and Chatrice White - who had just reentered the game with two fouls - to go ahead 20-14 with 7:45 left.

Illinois continued to assert itself on the defensive end, setting the tone with a swarming 2-3 zone that forced the Huskers into 1-of-4 shooting and three turnovers over the next three minutes as the Orange and Blue extended their lead to 26-17 on a Brooke Kissinger layup after the final media timeout of the half.

Nebraska scored seven straight points to pull within two when Brittany Carter went 1-for-2 at the line. Tear'a Laudermill hit a jumper then Emily Cady went 1-for-2 at the line to tie the game at 27. But Taylor Tuck knifed to the hoop for a layup and a 29-27 halftime lead for Illinois.

After Nebraska went ahead 36-35 thanks to 7-2 run by Theriot, Simmons hit a step-back three to put the Illini up two but Theriot tied it at 38 with a jumper. The Illini rattled off seven straight points on a Coleman trey and layups by Carter and Coleman to go ahead 45-38 with 10:34 to go.

The Huskers pulled within four after Tear'a Laudermill went 1-of-2 at the line and Hailie Sample got a layup but Coleman stemmed the tide by knifing into the lane and banking in a floater to push the Illini lead to 47-41 with 7:37 left. Theriot hit two free throws and White got a nice layup off a pick-and-roll to push Illinois' lead to 49-43.

But that's when everything unraveled for the Orange and Blue as Theriot went on a personal 8-2 spurt to tie the game at 51 with 4:41 left. The Illini went cold from the floor, missing two threes and a midrange jumper by Tuck around a Theriot jumper that put Nebraska ahead, 53-51.

Illinois simply couldn't get a shot to fall for a five-minute span at the end of the game and the Huskers got a free throw from Sample and a layup by Cady to push their lead to 56-51 with 1:34 left.

Carter had 2 good looks from 3-point range that rattled out, then Simmons drew a charge on Theriot with 25.0 seconds left. But Carter couldn't knock down another trey and Nebraska got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, then made 1-of-2 to go up 57-51 with 14 seconds left. Coleman cut into the lane for a layup but it was too late as the Huskers pulled off the 58-53 win.

The Illini now embark on a stretch where four of their next five games are on the road, starting with Thursday's 6 p.m. CT tip at Michigan State. Illinois beat the Spartans in East Lansing last year behind a stellar performance by Grant.