Nebraska women's basketball falls 80-75 to No. 12 Michigan after second-half battle
Nebraska women’s basketball has a big second half to go head-to-head with No. 12 Michigan (20-5, 10-4). However, the Huskers fell short 80-75 in Ann Arbor and fall to 14-11, 6-8. Nebraska will have to win all four of its final games to get a chance at making the NCAA tournament.
Alexis Markowski has a double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Jaz Shelley had a double-double asl well with 14 points and 10 assists. Bourne recorded 18 points and 6 rebounds. Haiby added 10 points with 7 in the fourth.
Bourne was the first Husker and player to score. She drained a three at the top of the key but Jordan Hobbs responded immediately with her own for the Wolverines.
Nebraska went downhill quickly after Bourne’s three. They had four turnovers in the next four minutes. NU finished the first quarter with six turnovers and had 11 in the first half.
While they were turning over the ball, Nebraska wasn’t scoring either. Jaz Shelley broke their three-minute drought with a floater after the Huskers’ inbounded it from the baseline. Shelley’s break in the drought was just that, a break.
Illinois goes on huge run to take down Nebraska women’s basketball 72-64
The Huskers didn’t score a field goal for five minutes. Allowing Michigan to go on a 10-0 scoring run. Nebraska made three free throws to lessen the blow slightly. However, the Wolverines go up to a 17-8 lead.
Bourne sank her second three and attempted shot of the first quarter with 1:30 left in the quarter. Nebraska closed it to 17-11 but Kiser made sure Michigan ended the quarter with one more basket.
Alexis Markowski made her first bucket of the game and the first of the second quarter with a three-pointer. Maddie Nolan responded with a three of her own to make it 22-14 with 8:49 left in the second.
Shelley got going in the second. She laid it up in the paint and then connected for three points less than a minute later. Defensively, she delivered a big block to force a Michigan turnover with 4:30 left in the half.
But after Shelley’s three-pointer, the Huskers went three minutes without scoring.
Markowski drained her second three of the game on a fastbreak shot with 2:15 left in the half to end the drought. On the next possession, she was fouled and made both free throws to close Michigan’s lead to 31-28.
Leigh Brown, a former Husker, kept extending Michigan’s lead toward the end. She made a jumper after Markowski’s free throws and after Kendall Moriarty drained a three. The Wolverines lead 36-31 at halftime.
Second half battle
Nebraska started off the half hot as Haiby kicked it out to Markowski for a three to make it 36-34. Maddie Krull hit a three on the next possession to take Nebraska’s first lead of the game.
Kiser took back Michigan’s lead with a layup but Bourne made it 39-38 with one of her own. The two teams traded a few buckets until Shelley nailed a three-pointer after a Bourne layup to take Nebraska’s biggest lead of the game, 44-40 with six minutes left in the third.
Krull hit a nice stepback jumper to cap off a 7-0 Nebraska scoring run. Hobbs ended it with a sick spin move and a jumper. Hobbs sparked Michigan and the Huskers didn’t score a field goal for another three minutes.
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Kiser missed two free throws but Michigan got the offensive rebound. Brown made a nice jumper to tie it up 46-46 with 3:15 left.
Shelley made two free throws to get it back to 48-48. However, freshman Alyssa Crockett drained a three to ignite the crowd and force a NU timeout.
After the timeout, Markowski was fouled in the paint and her shot rolled around the rim and in. She made the free throw to tie it 51-51. Haiby made what looked like a three-pointer but her foot was on the line. That was Nebraska’s last bucket of the third quarter.
Michigan made eight of their last nine shots of the third quarter to lead 57-53 going into the fourth.
The beginning of fourth quarter was just as much of a battle as the third proved to be. Nebraska started to attack Michigan more as they had three layups with one inside the paint within the first three minutes of the quarter.
Shelley’s layup was on a fast break as she took it coast to coast to make it 61-59 Michigan with 7:11 to go.
Stuck expanded Michigan’s run to a 7-0 run with her first three-pointer of the game. Callin Hake made her first shot from behind the arc on the next possession to close the score to 68-62 Michigan.
After a Kiser layup, Bourne made one of her own to make it 70-64 with 3:30 left. Nebraska didn’t score another field goal for three minutes as Michigan added five points.
Brown scored Michigan’s last eight points with free throws. Haiby scored seven points within the last 25 seconds but the Wolverine’s lead was too much.
