Nebraska's Jaz Shelley clarifies apparent troll of Iowa's Caitlin Clark in upset win

Nebraska star player Jaz Shelly waved her hands over her face in what appeared to be a troll of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.

However, Shelly said that was not a gesture to imitate Clark. The Iowa star went viral last year with that gesture but it was thrown back at her by LSU’s Angel Reese in the national championship game.

Shelley had to clear the air postgame when the moment on the bradcast went viral.

“Just to clear the air.. this was not a gesture at Caitlin or Iowa,” Shelly wrote on Twitter. “I have the upmost respect for that program. This is how we signal our face guard defense.”

Shelley would go on to score seven points in the final 30 seconds of the game, including four consecutive free throws to put the game on ice. A few missed game-tying attempts for Iowa later, and the fans inside Pinnacle Bank Arena flooded the court in celebration.

“I’m just so proud of this team,” she said. “I love these fans, they come in every single day to come and support us, so I’m very thankful. My family’s here from Australia. They just got in yesterday and they get to see this — It’s unreal.”

For the first time in program history, the Nebraska Women’s Basketball team helped sell out their home arena in front of 15,042 fans. Shelley made sure all of the home faithful went home happy.

“That’s so special I think it’s huge for out program,” Shelly said. “It’s huge for our team. Like, we know we could do this, we were waiting for this game. We knew that we could do it and we did it. … I wanted to win this game so bad — I wanted it so bad. As soon as [those shots] left my hand I could tell it was good.”

Shelley finished the game with a season-high 23 points, five assists, and three rebounds. She shot 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and nailed all four of her free throws to end the game.

The win shoots the Huskers up into the sole possession of third place in the current Big Ten Standings. Iowa and Indiana sit 0.5 games back behind No. 5 Ohio State — whom Nebraska is scheduled to play on Wednesday. If Shelley and the Huskers are able to pull off back-to-back wins over AP top-five opponents, not only will it shake up the entire Big Ten standings, but it will give Shelley and Nebraska a whole new outlook on their season.

Tip-off is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET live on Peacock.

Barkley Truax contributed to this report