Nebraska Women’s Basketball falls short to Illinois 77-68
Illinois’s offense surged late to defeat Nebraska Women’s Basketball 77-68 in Champaign, Ill. The Huskers fall to 17-9 and 8-7 in the Big Ten.
Husker center Alexis Markowski recorded a career-high-tying 28 points and eight rebounds. Britt Prince added nine points and tied her career-best with eight assists. Jessica Petrie led NU with a career-high-tying nine rebounds and added five points.
After going 5-of-11 from three in the first half, Nebraska went 1-of-7 in the second half.
Aladia McKenzie paced Illinois with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Bostic recorded a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double. Berry Wallace and Genesis Bryant added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
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First half battle
Nebraska outshot Illinois from behind the arc and inside the paint in the first quarter. NU was 2-of-5 from three, while the Illini went 1-of-5. The Huskers scored 10 paint points and held Illinois to two points inside.
Although the Huskers were shooting better, they only led 16-13 after the first quarter.
Markowski scored Nebraska’s first five points of the second quarter. Logan Nissley heated up for a jumper and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions.
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Just as Nissley found her groove, so did Illinois. Berry Wallace and Genesis Bryant hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Adalia McKenzie and Wallace added buckets to make it a 10-0 run to take a 30-26 lead.
Nebraska responded with five straight points (two free throws from Markowski and a Kendall Coley 3-pointer). At halftime, the Huskers took a 31-30 lead into the locker room.
Markowski scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards in the first half. She had seven points and five rebounds in the second quarter.
Illinois Pulls Away Late to Hold Off Nebraska
After trading baskets to start the third quarter, Nebraska went scoreless for three minutes. Meanwhile, Illinois scored five points to go up 44-38 for its largest game lead thus far.
Markowski ended NU’s drought, but McKenzie drove around the Huskers defense for an easy layup.
Illinois went on a 9-2 run over two minutes. Amiah Hargrove scored her first two buckets of the game to cut the lead to 50-44. Illinois led Nebraska 52-44 heading into the final 10 minutes.
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The Fighting Illinois outscored Nebraska 22-11 in the third quarter. They shot 60 percent from the field in the third.
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Markowski began the fourth quarter strong with Nebraska’s first seven points. But Bostic continued to respond. She had three straight buckets for Illinois.
Nebraska cut Illinois’ lead to one-possession three times. However, their defense could not stop the Fighting Illinois on the other end. Illinois scored five straight points, three from free throws, to go up 68-60 with 1:24 left.
The Huskers recorded four more free throws, but Illinois continued to score again. Nebraska was unable to take the lead as Illinois went 8-of-11 from the charity strike in the fourth quarter.
Prince was knocked off balance while in the air during a shot. She landed hard and laid on the court for several moments. The freshman was helped into the locker room and did not put any weight on her right foot/ankle. If she has to miss time that loss will be much greater than falling to Illinois.
Next up
Nebraska returns home to face Oregon on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
