Nebraska women's basketball falls 64-55 to Kansas in WNIT Super 16
Nebraska women’s basketball falls 64-55 to Kansas (21-11, 9-9) in the WNIT Super 16 and ends their season 18-15 and 8-10 in the Big Ten. The Jayhawks dominate the Huskers inside as they outrebounded them 46-29 and had 38 points in the paint.
The Huskers never led but did tie it momentarily in the third quarter.
Issie Bourne had 17 points and six rebounds. Jaz Shelley had 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Kendall Moriarty had 10 points in her first start. Nebraska went 6-for-26 from behind the arc. KU outrebounded the Huskers 46-29.
Four Jayhawks had double-digit points. Chandler Prater had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Taiyanna Jackson had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Despite the game being at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, there was still a good crowd of Husker fans. The official attendance was 3,730.
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Sophomore Kendall Moriarty got her first start as fifth-year senior Sam Haiby was out with a season and a Nebraska career-ending injury.
Jackson started the game on fire as she made two quick baskets to go up 4-0 with 8:18 left in the first quarter.
Shelley was the first Husker to score as she drilled a three-pointer.
Jackson scored again after getting two offensive rebounds and finally put her third shot attempt to go up 6-3 over Nebraska. Prater stormed inside for a layup on the next possession. Zakiyah Franklin found herself wide open outside and drained a three-pointer.
Bourne ended KU’s 7-0 run with a layup as she got a nice pass right under the basket from Alexis Markowski. Kansas was up 11-5 with 4:12 left in the first quarter. They were shooting 55.6 percent from the floor and Nebraska was shooting 25 percent at that point.
Immediately after a media timeout, Bourne swished a shot from behind the arc.
KU started to dominate on the defensive end as well. They forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions with one steal and one block. Nebraska had three turnovers in the first quarter.
Callin Hake ended Nebraska’s 3:30 drought with a nice three on a fastbreak. The Huskers closed the gap to 15-11 but Holly Kersgieter backed up Hake’s three with one of her own. Bourne was the last player to score as she had a layup with 49 seconds left in the quarter.
Kansas led Nebraska women’s basketball 18-13 after the first 10 minutes.
Kendall Coley and Maggie Mendelson started the second quarter. Coley blocked a KU player and stole the ball from her. Mendelson forced another turnover moments later. With Haiby on the bench and nine available players, it was important for the Huskers to get quality minutes from their bench.
Markowski was in foul trouble during the first half as she played seven minutes and didn’t score.
After a scrappy defensive beginning to the second quarter, Jackson scored the first bucket of the game with 6:51 to go in the half. After Moriarty was penalized for an offensive charge, Jackson hooked in a reverse layup to go up 22-13.
Franklin cruised down the court and to the hoop to go up and take KU’s biggest lead, 24-13.
Nebraska didn’t score for over six minutes. Annika Stewart ended the drought with a stepback jumper at the free-throw line.
Moriarty stuffed a Jayhawk then went down the court to swish a three. Maddie Krull went right at Kersgieter for a layup. Nebraska closed the gap to 24-20.
After a timeout, Telegdy drained a jumper but Stewart one-upped her with a three at the top of the key. to make it 26-23 KU with 2:06 left. After another Jackson bucket, Shelley hit a long two as her foot was on the three-point line.
While trying to stop KU from scoring the last bucket, Nebraska fouled Franklin, who made both free throws. Kansas led 30-25 at halftime.
Nebraska made five of their last six shots of the half.
Second half battle
Of course, Jackson was the first to score in the second half. She made a layup on a fastbreak after a missed Nebraska shot and KU rebound.
Moriarty made a shot from behind the arc in the corner to make it 32-28 with 8:32 left in the third.
The first three minutes of the game were back and further on the scoreboard. Markowski earned her first points of the game on a layup with 7:27 left in the third to make it 36-32 Kansas.
Moriarity cut to the basket on an inbound for a layup. Bourne added another layup as Shelley found her cutting for a smooth bucket to tie it 36-36.
After Kersgieter hit a three, Kansas deflected a Nebraska pass out of bounds but it was called KU ball. Bourne wasn’t even close to touching the ball. Either way, Kansas got the ball and Prater scored to take a 41-36 lead.
After a media timeout, Bourne was fouled by Prater but missed both free throws.
Shelley drove inside, made the bucket and drew the foul from Kersgieter. Shelley missed the extra point, holding the score at 41-38.
After a referee’s timeout, Prater made a setback jumper as she found her open. It happened again as Prater hit another bucket at the three-throw line after NU lost her on the court.
Shelley was fouled again but missed both free throws. At this point in the game, Nebraska was 0-for-5 from the line.
Prater added an assist as she drove inside and passed out to Strom for a three-pointer. Kansas took a 48-40 led with 2:09 left in the third.
Bourne tried for a fastbreak layup but was fouled and missed the shot. She drained both her free throws, Nebraska’s first of the game.
Shelley, an 85 percent free throw shooter, was fouled and finally made a free throw.
After Bourne scored with 3:09 left in the third, Nebraska didn’t score a field goal until there was one second left. While inbounding at halfcourt, Bourne launched the ball to Mendelson under the hoop. The two-sport athlete twisted her body awkwardly to hook in a buzzer-beater.
The Jayhawks led 48-47 at the end of the third as Nebraska scored five straight to end the quarter.
Moriarty drove inside to an opening bucket in the fourth quarter. The Huskers and Jayhawks went back and forward as Shelley took a couple of dribbles forward to open space and drilled a jumper. Jackson and Franklin kept going into the paint and getting buckets.
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Franklin had back-to-back shots fall to make it 54-49 with 7:33 left.
After missing a three, Moriarty followed her shot and pocked the rebound away from Prater to give Nebraska the ball back. On the inbound, Prater stole the ball and took it down for a fastbreak layup.
Then, the Huskers found Bourne underneath for another layup.
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Prater, maybe still frustrated with the out call, missed a three but got her own rebound to nail a jumper. Kansas led 58-51 with 5:41 remaining.
Kansas had a miscommunication inside which led to a turnover. Shelley grabbed the ball and went coast-to-coast to close the gap to 58-53.
After a Kersgieter layup, Markowski found Bourne in the paint for a spinning layup. Nebraska closed KU’s lead to 60-55 with three minutes left.
Kansas didn’t score a field goal for four minutes and the Huskers went scoreless for the last three minutes.
The Huskers had to resort to fouling and Kersgieter went 4-for-4 at the line in the final 43 seconds.
Nebraska had many good looks in the final few minutes but couldn’t get anything to fall.
Tried to make up for Haiby
Nebraska fifth-year senior Sam Haiby announced on Thursday afternoon that she suffered a season-ending injury against Northern Iowa in the second round.
After battling an injury at the beginning of the season, Haiby returned full strength and had a great game against Missouri State in the first round. She had 25 points, a season-high. Unfortunately, just as her season started, Haiby fought an injury.
The Huskers lost a big-time playmaker, especially in critical moments.
“We missed her on the court with just everything she brings to the table,” Husker Head Coach Amy Williams said. “Obviously, she had 25 points in our first-round game of the tournament and was really off to an awesome start before her injury in our last ball game. Everything that she brings to the table for our team, we miss. More than any of that, just her presence and her leadership, her guidance.”
In her absence, the Huskers needed and saw several players step up. One of those players was Jaz Shelley who played all 40 minutes.
“I thought Jaz did everything in her power, having to kind of step over and everybody just played a little bit out of rhythm, out of position and out of normal,” Williams said. “I thought Jaz did everything in her power, with nine assists, one turnover, just really trying to control the game and making sure that everyone was on the same page. That is something we have typically leaned on Sam heavily for because she is a fifth-year kid in our program… I thought Jaz took over as well as you can expect in that moment, in that situation.”
Kendall Moriarty, Maggie Mendelson, Kendall Coley and Annika Stewart all made some great plays as they adjusted to the absence of Haiby.
Williams said they wrote on the board, “greatness resides in toughness together,” and she thought her team showed that for a good chunk of the game against Kansas.
Ending the season
Nebraska’s squad suffered two devastating injuries to their guard position this season. Allison Weidner tore her ACL in the first game against Kansas. In addition, they thought Haiby would be out for the season but her injury wasn’t as serious as they thought. Unfortunately, Haiby didn’t end the season the way Nebraska hoped.
Over the entire season, the Huskers looked to younger players to step up and try to fill in the unfillable gaps.
But as the season came to an end and Nebraska had nine players able to play, Williams said she felt pride.
“I’m proud of our team and the grit and fight and toughness they showed, by I’m also disappointed that it’s over,” she said. “I felt like this was a team that we were always striving to become the best version of ourselves and be what we’re capable of. I thought at times, we saw flashes.”
Williams listed the Maryland upset, the first time Nebraska ever beat the Terrapins, and taking down No. 25 Illinois by 30 points on the road. Those were the flashes of what her team could do.
“Some very substantial wins that we were able to get this season and now we’ve just got to keep working towards a little more consistency as we move the program forward,” Williams said.
