No. 6 Nebraska Women's Basketball season ends in NCAA Tournament, falls 61-51 to No. 3 Oregon State
No. 6 Nebraska Women’s Basketball (23-12, 11-7) season comes to an end as they fall 61-51 to No. 3 Oregon State (26-7, 12-6) in the NCAA Tournament. The Beavers scored 45 points in their first and last quarters to claim the victory at their home court, Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon
Oregon State advanced to the Sweet 16 in Albany, New York to take on the winner of No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 7 Ole Miss.
The Huskers won their first NCAA Tournament game in 10 years to advance to the round of 32. They fought off a 17-point comeback by Texas A&M to win 61-59.
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Oregon State shut down the Huskers’ top two players, Jaz Shelley and Alexis Markowski. They did a great job of defending Nebraska’s three-point shooters. NU shot 20 percent from three and 31.3 percent from the floor.
Senior Jaz Shelley had 10 points, six rebounds and six assists with eight points in the fourth quarter. Nebraska junior Alexis Markowski had eight points and eight rebounds after a huge third quarter. Senior Annika Stewart went 2-for-3 from three and had eight points.
Talia Von Oelhoffen had a game-high 19 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Timea Gardiner added 15 points and seven rebounds.
Third-Team All-American center Raegan Beers had 10 points and six rebounds. She was charged with four fouls at the end of the third quarter and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
Oregon State pulls away, then goes cold
Markowski started off the game with a layup. The Beavers responded with two buckets, a layup from Beers and then a three from Von Oelhoffen. Oregon State started off strong and got out to a 12-4 lead with four different players scoring.
Gardiner nailed the Beavers’ second three of the game to take a 12-4 lead.
Beers, a Third-Team All-American, proved she had recovered after missing the fourth quarter of OSU’s game vs. Eastern Washington. She had six points in the first six minutes of the game.
Oregon State went on a 12-0 scoring run over the span of three minutes. Stewart ended NU’s drought with a jumper in the paint. But Gardiner responded with another three to go up 19-6.
A great jumper by Darian White sparked the Huskers’ offense. Callin Hake attacked the hoop for a bucket and a foul and knocked down the extra shot. Nebraska cut the gap to 19-11. Meanwhile, Oregon State didn’t score for the final 2:24 of the quarter while NU had five points.
However, the Beavers still led 19-11 after the first quarter. NU went 5-for-18 from the floor and was 0-for-5 from three in the first 10 minutes. OSU shot over 50 percent from field goal and three-point range.
But, the Beavers continued to dominate on both ends of the floor to start the second. They took a 13-point lead after a Beer layup to go up 28-15.
The Huskers didn’t score for four minutes after White hit another jumper to make it 28-17. Luckily for Nebraska, OSU’s offense went ice-cold. They didn’t score for the final 6:25 of the first half.
Nissley was the first to score as she made one of her two free throws. Stewart made the next field goal as she swished an open three to make it 28-21. She made NU’s first three of the game and it’s only of the first half.
NU scored six unanswered points to end the second quarter. OSU held onto a 28-21 lead at half.
Third third-quarter Husker comeback is not enough
The second half continued on the same trend. Both teams struggled to score for the first three minutes. Shelley found Markowski down low for the first bucket of the half.
In response, Von Oelhoffen hit a jumper, OSU’s first points in nearly 10 minutes of game time. Markowski collected an offensive rebound and put it up for two to make it 30-25 with 6:29 left in the third.
After a scoring surge, both teams had shot after shot bounce out. Neither team scored for three minutes. Beers ended the drought with a layup and Markowski combated it with one of her own. OSU led 35-29 after the third quarter.
However, Oregon State started the fourth quarter with three consecutive three-pointers. With 7:15 left, they grabbed a 44-29 lead, their largest lead of the game.
After the Beavers’ 9-0 run, Nebraska Women’s Basketball strung together six straight points.
Nissley went down hard in the middle of the fourth quarter. She was elbowed in the stomach and apparently had the wind knocked out of her. The moment was reviewed. But it wasn’t called a personal foul at the moment and wasn’t an intentional foul, NU didn’t get any free throws.
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After five unanswered Beaver points, featuring a Von Oelhoffen three, White hit another jumper in the paint.
However, Lily Hansford drilled her second three of the quarter for OSU to take a 52-37 lead with under three minutes remaining.
Shelley hit her first three of the game with two minutes left. Hake followed it up with a fast break three of her own.
NU went on an 8-3 run in the final minute but Oregon State’s lead was too much. The Beavers won 61-51 to advance to the Sweet 16 in Albany, New York.
Oregon State smothers Nebraska defensively
Oregon State led Nebraska to 51 points, its second-lowest points scored of the season. They limited the Huskers in the paint and outside behind the arc. NU shot an average of 33 percent from three this season but was held to 20 percent by Oregon State.
“They had 10 block shots in the game and so they have a versatility because they have power and size inside that can really bang you around and be physical,” Husker Head Coach Amy Williams said. “They have length where it’s tough to go up over the top of them and then they can bring in and mix in some speed. I think those things all in conjunction, it’s hard to really get used to because of the versatility and they can run different lineups in and on both sides of the floor.”
Markowski also mentioned the Beaver’s ability to get blocks and make things difficult down low. OSU also limited Nebraska from their average 16.6 assists to 10 assists on Sunday.
Oregon State Head Coach Scott Rueck said postgame that his team is playing their best defense right now because they’ve seen everything. They hang their hat on defense and it showed and paid off against the Huskers.
Rueck said the first and fourth quarters felt like different games than the middle two quarters. Nebraska held the Beavers to 16 points in the middle 10 minutes but allowed 45 in the other two quarters. NU’s defense held up well, Williams said. However, Oregon was just making all their shots first and last 10 minutes of the game.
Huskers should be proud and excited for future
Although it will sting for awhile, Nebraska Women’s Basketball should be proud of their accomplishments this season.
They won the program’s first NCAA Tournament game in 10 years. The Huskers reached the Big Ten Tournament Championship game and went toe-to-toe against No. 1 NCAA seed Iowa. Earlier in the season, they upset the Hawkeyes at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Markowski and Shelley set records in the Nebraska history books and in the Big Ten Tournament as well. The duo was All-Big Ten First Team and Second Team selections.
Although the Huskers lost four seniors (Shelley, Stewart, White and Maddie Krull), NU established young players this season. Freshmen Natalie Potts and Logan Nissley earn earned a starting role and were on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. Potts was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
While players like Shelley are difficult to replace, Nebraska has Alison Weidner returning from injury next season and is adding five-star guard Britt Prince. The Huskers should be excited for their future but grateful for the success and progress of the 2023-24 season.
