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Illinois goes on huge run to take down Nebraska women's basketball 72-64

Abby Barmore HuskerOnlineby:Abby Barmore•02/09/23•

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Alexis Markowski
Alexis Markowski (Nebraska Communications)

Nebraska women’s basketball (14-10, 6-7) fell apart against Illinois (19-6, 9-5) and allowed 20 unanswered points, starting in the third and carrying over to the fourth quarter. The Huskers scored one field goal in the final 11 minutes.

Alexis Markowski had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sam Haiby had a team-high 15 points and 8 rebounds. Jaz Shelley added 12 points and 8 rebounds. Makira Cook had 22 points for Illinois. Three other Illini scored in the double digits.

Markowski won the tip for the Huskers and then scored Nebraska’s first bucket on the same possession. Issie Bourne drained a three on the next possession to keep the Huskers hot.

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However, Nebraska went cold after that as they didn’t score for two and a half minutes. Illinois, on the other hand, went on an 8-0 scoring run. Kendall Bostic had six of those points.

Sam Haiby ended the run with a layup which she was fouled on. She made the and-one opportunity to close the gap to 11-8 with 5:29 left in the first. Haiby sparked a Husker run as Bourne hit her second three of the game.

Nebraska embarked on an 11-0 run with a Callin Hake three-pointer and two free throws by Anni Stewart.

Adalia McKenzie stopped Nebraska’s run with a jumper near the free-throw line to make it 16-13.

Markowski ended the first quarter, just like she started it, with a jumper in the paint. Nebraska was up 18-15 after the first quarter.

Want to guess how the second quarter started? If you guessed a Markowski bucket, you’re right.

Nebraska kept the petal down until about three minutes before the break. They didn’t score for the final 2:40 of the game.

Markowski drained a three, her first of the game, with 2:40 left in the first half.

Cook was the only Illinois player to score until Geovana Lopes’s jumper with 2:52 left in the first half. Cook had six points before that. She finished the second quarter with 10 of her 12 first-half points.

Jaz Shelley scored Nebraska’s last four points of the half by making all four of her free throws.

Nebraska jogged into the locker room up 37-29.

Markowksi was close to a first-half double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Illinois’ huge comeback

Nebraska didn’t score for the first two minutes of the third quarter. Markowski made the first shot of the quarter with 8:01 left in the third.

Illinois scored four quick points, two off free throws and one from a layup.

The Huskers didn’t score another field goal until Bourne was battling in the paint and saw Maddie Krull wide open. She kicked it out to Krull who sank it for three points. Nebraska’s lead went up to 43-34 with 6:45 left in the third.

Huge first quarter, free throws boost Nebraska women’s basketball to a 78-66 victory over Northwestern

After Krull’s three, Nebraska went cold as they didn’t make a field goal for three minutes. Shelley made a layup with 4:44 left in the third but Nebraska continued on the drought.

Krull hooked in the Huskers’ last field bucket of the quarter. Her hook shot fell in and she was fouled but didn’t make the free throw. Illinois then went on a huge run.

The Huskers were outscored 22-14 in the third quarter as eight of Illinois’ points came in the final minute and a half. Bostic and Oden teamed up for all eight of those points.

Nebraska only scored four field goals and five free throws in the third quarter.

Bostic and Oden stayed on fire in the fourth quarter. Nebraska continued to be ice cold.

The Fighting Illini’s scoring run carried into the fourth quarter as Illinois scored 20 unanswered points.

Nebraska didn’t score a field goal for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Haiby finally ended the scoring drought with six made free throws but still no field goals. She went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Haiby kept going to the free throw line and kept draining the shots. But Nebraska needed field goals and to slow down Illinois with the clock ticking down.

Krull and Shelley both added a pair of free throws as well. Krull’s put Nebraska within six, 68-62 with two minutes left.

On the next possession, Haiby (because who else) shot a three and missed but got her rebound and layup it in. She made NU’s first field goal of the fourth quarter with 1:36 to go. She got it to 68-64 but the Huskers’ comeback was too little, too late.

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Notables:

***Alexis Markowski and Issie Bourne both dominated in the first half. They were a combined 9-for-13 from field goal range. Markowski was close to a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Bourne had 11 points and was 2-for-3 from behind the arc.

The Fighting Illini shut down the posts in the second half. Markowski and Bourne were 1-for-12 in the second half.

Head Coach Shauna Green said she emphasized winning the battle down low at halftime. She credited Kendall Bostic with doing well against Markowski in the last part of the game. Bostic herself had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Illinois taking Markowski and Bourne out of the game had a huge impact.

***In the fourth quarter, Haiby tried to win the game for Nebraska single-handedly. She had nine of the Huskers’ 13 points. Seven of those points were from free throws.

“Sam Haiby, getting back to typically Sam Haiby and working toward true health, she’s really good at (getting to the free throw line),” Husker Head Coach Amy Williams said. “She’s explosive and she does a great job of being able to attack and draw fouls.”

Green mentioned that she told her team several times not to foul in the fourth quarter, but they still did. She said it seemed like Nebraska didn’t miss any free throws and was surprised that they went 25-for-34 from the line.

In the Huskers’ last game which was against Northwestern, going 18-for-23 from the free throw line helped them win after a long field goal drought. Free throws couldn’t win them in this one.

***Nebraska has a tough road ahead of them to reaching the coveted 18 wins to get a shot at making the NCAA tournament. No. 12 Michigan on the road is next on Nebraska’s schedule. They take on the Wolverines on Sunday at noon.

Taking down Illinois, who they lead by 10 points for more of the game, would have been a huge win.

“It felt like we let one slip away,” Williams said.

She’s right.

But it’s onto the next. Learn from your mistakes and hopefully get better. Unfortunately, Nebraska has let three leads slip away in the last three games. They managed to beat Michigan State and Northwestern thanks to 20-point leads.

Finishing is now on the top of Nebraska’s to-do list: finishing plays, games and the season strong.

“I expect them to compete. That’s what we are here for and that is what we do. This is a team that knows that not everything is easy and adversity will come but we embrase hard things in our program and it’s something that defines character. So we’re going to make sure that this defining moment for our character is toughness and grit and fight.”

Nebraska Head Coach Amy Williams

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