Nebraska Women’s Basketball loses battle to No. 7 Louisville 63-58 in NCAA Tournament
Nebraska Women’s Basketball’s season comes to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. NU went 21-12 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten in 2025.
The No. 10 Huskers fell in the final minutes vs. No. 7 Louisville (22-10, 13-5) losing 63-58 at the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cardinals advance to face No. 2 TCU, who defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 73-51 on Sunday, March 23.
Nebraska scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter. But Louisville went on an 11-2 run to win. The Cardinals, the No. 29 best offensive rebounding team nationally, had 18 offensive boards and 39 total rebounds to best NU.
The Huskers committed 24 turnovers which Louisville turned into 27 points. The Cardinals also had the edge in the paint with 32 paint points, 12 more than NU. Nebraska shot 44% from field goal range while Louisville shot 37%. NU went 8-of-20 from three.
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Freshman guard Britt Prince led Nebraska with 14 points, three rebounds and six assists. Senior center Alexis Markowski had 12 points and 10 rebounds. She ended her Husker career with a program-leading 53 double-doubles and is second in career rebounds with 1,220.
Tajianna Roberts paced Louisville with 16 points. She had 12 points in the second quarter. Olivia Cochran added 14 points and five rebounds. Jayda Curry led with six fourth-quarter points and 13 overall.
Louisville’s Speed and Pressure Turn the Tide Against Nebraska
Prince started the Huskers with a 3-pointer for its first shot and bucket. Markowski swished another early three to go up 8-6.
Cochran scored six points in the first quarter. She had two fastbreak buckets within the first four minutes, beating Markowski down the court for easy points.
After the first media timeout, neither team scored for four minutes. The Huskers struck first with 2:16 left in the first quarter. Petra Bozan scored her first bucket of the game to take a 12-8 lead. Nebraska was up 16-14 after the first quarter.
Logan Nissley began the second quarter with a big-time 3-pointer. Nebraska took its largest lead after a fastbreak jumper from Prince to go up 23-18 with 8:06 left in the half.
Louisville went on a 6-0 run to take a 27-26 lead with 4:12 left in the half. Amiah Hargrove drained back-to-back jumpers and Prince added a back-door cut bucket for Nebraska to take back the lead 32-27.
Roberts combated Nebraska’s 6-0 run by sparking a 9-0 Louisville run. She had seven of the nine points in the final 2:22 of the half. Louisville led 36-32 at the break.
Turnovers, offensive rebounds and transition points hindered the Huskers throughout the entire game. They committed 11 turnovers in the first half. Louisville converted those turnovers into 17 points. The Cardinals, a great offensive-rebounding team, won the first-half battle 10-5.
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Louisville scored 12 fastbreak points in the first half. 29 of their 36 first-half points were from turnovers and fastbreak opportunities.
Louisville Holds Off Nebraska’s Fourth-Quarter Surge
After a quick layup by Roberts, both teams went scoreless for five minutes. Currey was the first to score a field goal after five minutes.
The Huskers went scoreless for seven minutes, starting in the second quarter and bleeding into the third. Hargrove made a free throw but they didn’t score a field goal until 3:36 in the third quarter. Markowski made a layup and the and-one shot to end the drought.
Prince drained a 3-pointer quickly afterward to cut Louisville’s lead to 44-39. Hargrove scored Nebraska’s last five points of the quarter. The Cardinals took a 50-44 lead into the fourth quarter after Elif Istanbulluoglu made her only two baskets of the game.
Nebraska scored the first 10 points of the final quarter to take a 54-50 lead with 6:27 left. Nissley and Alberte Rimdal (her first bucket of the game) made threes.
Louisville’s first field goal in the fourth quarter was when Mackenly Randolph hit a jumper with 5:28 remaining. After a Rimdal layup, the Cardinals scored six straight points to take a 58-56 lead with 1:16 left. Curry scored two jumpers despite limping in between shots.
Prince ended the run with a layup in the paint for a 58-58 tie with 59 seconds left. Cochran made a free throw for Louisville to lead 59-58. Nebraska had the ball with 30 seconds left. Prince drove in but was charged with an offensive foul, her fifth of the game.
The Huskers fouled Curry with 21 seconds left. She made both free throws to take a 61-58 lead. After a wasted Nebraska possession, Cochran was fouled and made both shots to clinch the game 63-58.
