Nebraska Women’s Basketball upsets No. 20 Michigan State 85-80
Nebraska Women’s Basketball (12-4, 3-2) upset No. 20 Michigan State (12-3, 2-2) 85-80 despite being down 10-0 to start the game. The Huskers put together a 15-0 run in the second quarter to take a 39-26 lead which they never relinquished.
The Huskers were led by Alexis Markowski‘s career-high 28 points and eight rebounds. Allison Weidner tied for a season-high 11 bench points with two rebounds and six assists.
NU shot 44 percent from the field despite hitting 31 percent of their shots in the first quarter. Nebraska forced 18 turnovers and capitalized with 27 points.
The Spartans completed 45 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc. Julia Aryault led MSU with 21 points and nine rebounds.
First quarter slow start, second quarter comeback
Nebraska started poorly. They began the game down 10-0 to the Spartans. Guard Allison Weidner knocked down two free throws for NU’s first points of the game with 5:39 left in the first quarter. Alberte Rimdal scored the first field goal with 4:29 remaining in the first.
“I think being at home really helps flip that switch,” Markowski said. “I think we also talk about response every day, just not even on the court, but in life, if bad things happen, deciding that positive response, positive self-talk. In our timeouts, we were talking about that they’re going to make good plays in their press, but just stay calm, cool and collected and stay confident.”
NU went on a 6-0 run to cut Michigan State’s lead to 19-12. Michigan State led 21-15 after the first quarter.
Michigan State Women’s Basketball outrebounded Nebraska 16 to 8 in the first quarter, and the margin continued to increase. The Spartans finished with 39 rebounds, and NU recorded 37 rebounds.
“Our goal was to hold them to eight or less offensive rebounds for the game. They had eight in the first quarter,” head coach Amy Williams said. “(Markowski) was like, “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” I think we gave up three in the final three quarters.”
The Huskers quickly tied up the game to start the second quarter. Logan Nissley and Amiah Hargrove drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 21-21. After an Ayrault jumper, Rimdal added her own three for NU to take a 24-23 lead with 8:24 left in the half.
NU went on a 15-0 run over nearly five minutes to take a 39-26 lead in the second quarter. Nebraska Women’s Basketball outscored Michigan State 28 to 12 in the second quarter. They shot 52.9 percent from the field and 75 percent from behind the arc in the second quarter.
The Huskers jogged into the locker room up 43-33 at halftime.
Holding the lead in second
Nebraska Women’s Basketball started the game with four quick turnovers that attributed to Michigan State leading 10-0. However, the Huskers’ defense picked up in the second quarter. Michigan State had seven turnovers in the second quarter.
They finished with 18 turnovers and NU capitalized with 27 points off of turnovers. Nebraska committed 15 turnovers for 19 MSU points.
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Markowski was critical in Nebraska keeping their big lead in the third quarter. She had eight of her 28 points in the third.
“She was incredible,” Williams said of Markowski’s performance. “I thought she really wanted the ball. She demanded it. She gave confidence to her teammates to throw it in there. And I thought our team did a great job really looking for her. And that’s something that I’m really thrilled to see her take advantage of that.”
The Huskers shot 57 percent from field goal range in the third quarter after hitting 31 percent from field goal range in the first quarter. NU led MSU 66-55 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Nebraska went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought in the middle of the fourth quarter. Michigan State cut their lead to 71-66 with 6:31 remaining. Markowski ended the drought with a layup and made the and-one shot.
The Spartans didn’t make a field goal for four minutes. The Huskers scored eight unanswered points to go up 79-66 with 2:58 remaining. After an MSU timeout, Ayrault hit a jumper and nailed a three to spark her team.
MSU and Theryn Hallock scored five points in the final 12 seconds.
Nebraska Women’s Basketball is 7-0 against Michigan State at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. The Huskers have the longest active home winning streak in the Big Ten with 14 games.
“The Big Ten is the toughest conference to play in,” Markowski said. “So anyone can beat you. You can beat anyone. So when you get a game at home, you better be sure to take full advantage of that and come out with a win. I feel like the California trip really showed us some things that we needed to work on, and I think we’re working on those and getting better at those things.
“It feels good to beat a ranked opponent. I mean half of the Big Ten is ranked, so you’re going to play the best of the best. So just coming in every game and every day in practice, just with the mindset of getting better and wanting to beat that next opponent helps.”
