No. 6 Nebraska Women's Basketball outlasts No. 11 Texas A&M comeback, wins first NCAA game since 2014
No. 6 Nebraska Women’s Basketball outlasted a No. 11 Texas A&M comeback to win 61-59 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Corvallis, Oregon. The Husker secured their first NCAA Tournament win since 2014 when they advanced to the Sweet 16.
Nebraska advances to take on No. 3 Oregon State on Sunday, March 24 at Gill Coliseum in Regional 1 in Albany. The game will be at 3:00 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Beavers took down No. 14 Eastern Washington 73-51 in the first round in their home arena.
Freshman guard Logan Nissley had 16 points and went 4-for-6 from three. Junior center Alexis Markowski, who was in foul trouble the whole game, finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Darian White had eight points and four rebounds.
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Senior guard Aicha Coulibaly led the Aggies with a game-high 26 points, all in the second half. She had a team-high 10 rebounds as well.
The Aggies starting center, Lauren Ware, did not play on Friday due to a right foot injury. The 6-foot-5 junior averages 9.1 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. However, Markowski’s foul trouble bound her to the bench in the first half, limiting NU’s advantage.
The free-throw line was huge for the Huskers in the tight game. They went 19-for-22 overall and 7-for-8 in the fourth quarter. Markowski led NU by going perfect on six free-throw shots.
Huskers pull away in the first half
Nebraska started off strong with a 6-0 scoring run. Markowski made herself known in the paint with the first bucket of the game. Nissley stole the ball from the Aggies on the next possession and capitalized with a fastbreak layup.
NU cooled off and didn’t score a field goal for four minutes. Texas A&M guard Kay Kay Green drained a corner three for the Aggies’ first points. NU responded as Potts found Shelley on a cut to the basket for two.
The Aggies caught fire from behind the arc. They hit three triples within two minutes to cut NU’s lead to 10-9. They grabbed the lead with a layup from Janiah Barker right after a three on the last possession.
Anni Stewart took back the lead with a jumper in the paint. The Huskers led the Aggies 14-12 after the first quarter. Texas A&M didn’t score for the final 2:40 of the quarter.
In the first quarter, the Aggies went 3-for-6 from behind the arc, while NU was 0-for-4. Nebraska Women’s Basketball won the paint battle 10-2.
Nissley, an All-Big Ten Freshman Team pick, kicked off the second quarter with a three-pointer to go up 17-12.
Nebraska didn’t score a field goal until a jumper from Darian White in the paint. Meanwhile, the Aggies scored five points during NU’s drought. After White’s bucket, Nissley nailed another three.
Texas A&M went scoreless for three minutes. Sole Williams ended the drought with a three.
With Ware out, the Aggies got even smaller as Barker was saddled with her third personal foul in the middle of the second quarter. She played 13 minutes in the first half.
Markowski, who had two fouls early, only played six minutes in the first half. Nebraska missed her strong presence and rebounding ability down low.
Neither team scored within the final four of the first half. Nebraska Women’s Basketball jogged into the locker room, leading 27-20.
Coulibaly, Texas A&M makes it a game
Nissley continued her reign with a three-pointer to start the third quarter. She hit back-to-back threes. Kendall Moriarty joined the party with a three of her own. Nebraska Women’s Basketball took a 36-22 lead with 7:44 left in the third.
Markowski, who played more in the third quarter, had a layup soon after. Nebraska didn’t score another field goal until Kendall Coley sank her own three-pointer to take a 47-30 lead.
However, Coulibaly caught fire for Texas A&M. She had 14 points in the third quarter, including an 8-0 scoring run for the Aggies.
The Huskers didn’t score for four minutes while Coulibaly was on a tear. White went 1-for-2 on free throws to end the quarter. NU went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line and 4-for-6 from three during the quarter. They led 48-38 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Texas A&M started the fourth with determination. Coulibaly continued to lead her team with three baskets to start the quarter.
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With the Aggies closing in on NU, Markowski and Shelley hit jumpers to help combat the momentum.
Green left the court with an injury after landing awkwardly on her left leg after making a jumper. However, Coulibaly sustained their momentum with a great fastbreak jumper in the paint. She cut the Huskers lead to 56-54 with 4:17 remaining. The Aggies made six straight shots to complete the comeback.
Both teams cooled off and didn’t score for at least three minutes. Nebraska didn’t score for — minutes. Rogers hit two free throws to tie it up 56-56 with 1:38 remaining.
Shelley found Markowski in the paint to take the lead with 43 seconds left. However, Coulibaly got an offensive rebound, the bucket and was fouled. She made the free throw to take a 59-58 with 17.7 seconds left.
Nissley was fouled away from the ball on the next possession. She sank both free throws to take a 60-59 lead with 14 seconds left.
The Aggies came up empty on their next possession. They fouled Shelley, who made one free throw to make it 61-59. Texas A&M got the ball back with 1.4 seconds. Rogers’ three-pointer bounced out.
Nissley doesn’t shy away
In her first NCAA Tournament game, Nebraska turned to Nissley. Their leading scorers, Shelley and Markowski, were limited, especially in the first half. Nissley led the team with eight first-half points. She made back-to-back threes in the third quarter and sank two free throws to take the lead.
Markowski, who played on NU’s 2022 NCAA team, said she would not have lived up the moment like Nissley did as a freshman.
“Logan always steps up in huge moments, and it’s pretty rare to see that out of a freshman,” the junior center said. “I can think back to when I was a freshman playing in March, I would not have been able to do what Logan’s doing. It’s really impressive to me how she just continues to step up in huge moments on the biggest stage. When I was a freshman, I definitely couldn’t do that.”
Nissley went to the free throw line with the Huskers down 59-58 with 14 seconds left. She made her first and only free throws of the game.
“It’s something that every player dreams of,” Nissley said. “I think the confidence that my coach and my team instill in me is something that is very important and to feel that is just really special and to be in this tournament with this coaching staff and this team is something you don’t find anywhere else. The chemistry we have as a team really showed tonight and paid off.”
NU comes away with a close win
Nebraska had gone 1-4 in five-point games this season until their win over the Aggies. They were finally able to win a close game, especially went it mattered most. NU fell to Illinois 74-73 in the last game of the regular season with the No. 4 seed of the Big Ten Tournament on the line.
In the conference championship, they lost 94-89 to Iowa in overtime after giving up an 11-point lead.
The Huskers’ 71-70 loss to Rutgers at home on Feb. 3 stuck with Nissley.
“The Rutgers game comes to mind for me, and just being able to finally win one of these games, a close one like that, is really special for us,” the freshman said. “We talk about how every part of it matters and every part of it means something to us and so being able to capitalize on all of their turnovers and their mistakes. It’s just super special for this team to finally start going forward.”
Nebraska did not play perfect basketball on Friday in Corvallis. However, they came out with a gritty win when it mattered most. Can they do the same against No. 3 Oregon State? We’ll find out on Sunday in the second round.
