Nebraska women’s basketball competed with a top-15 team for two-and-a-half quarters of basketball, but No. 14 Indiana then pulled away to win 91-69.
The Huskers played from behind for much of the contest and allowed their highest point total of the year.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Huskers Can’t Keep up With Hoosier Offense, Physicality
Indiana’s Sydney Parrish got off to a hot start on Sunday.
She drained her first three 3s, pushing her team to a 9-4 advantage. She made one more before the quarter ended, and finished the day having connected on six of her seven tries from beyond the arc.
This was a theme for Indiana, though not everyone shot quite that percentage, of course. Parrish and Sara Scalia combined for 11 of the team’s 14 triples. The Hoosiers shot 60.9% on 3s and 60.7% from the field.
“I think tonight we didn’t have near enough defensive plays, and that’s evident by giving up 91 points,” Coach Amy Williams said postgame. “We’re going to try and learn from that and see how we can be better in the next time out.”
Meanwhile, Nebraska didn’t attempt a single 3 until Alexis Markowski finished the opening quarter with a buzzer-beater. It had its moments offensively, but never kept up with the opponent.
The Huskers made a push in the third quarter after Indiana went up 17. A 10-2 run made it an eight-point game, but the Hoosiers responded with a layup. After that, Jaz Shelley used a screen from Annika Stewart and dished it back to the center for a 3 to keep the momentum going. Scalia nailed a 3 in response, and when Shelley and Stewart tried to repeat their play, Chloe Moore-McNeil read it, picking off the pass and finishing easily on the other end. That helped spark a quarter-ending 14-1 run which essentially clinched the win.
Williams and Husker players felt they were “out-toughed.” Shelley and fellow guard Darian White shot 2-for-11, often seeing drives to the rim thwarted. Nebraska didn’t have a free-throw attempt in the opening half.
“One of our coaches said that nothing shows soft basketball like when you shoot zero free throws,” Markowski said postgame. “Not being tough at the rim, so I think that’s another aspect where the game was different.”
Alexis Markowski Stars Before Being Sidelined by Foul Trouble
Markowski certainly wasn’t afraid of the matchup with All-American center MacKenzie Holmes.
The Husker star scored her team’s first six points, a couple of those buckets coming through her work in the post. She also worked hard in defending Holmes, the fifth-year Hoosier traveling on her first go at Markowski on Sunday.
“I chose to play here to go against the best players in the country, and MacKenzie Holmes is one of them,” Markowski said. “I saw it as an opportunity to kind of just go out there and play my best basketball.”
Holmes had a pair of travels in the opening period, making her only shot as Markowski dared her to take a long 2-point jumper. Meanwhile, Markowski scored 11 of Nebraska’s 15 first-quarter points while pulling down all three of its defensive rebounds.
Foul trouble limited her ability to continue that effort, though. She picked up two fouls in the second quarter, then two more guarding Holmes early in the third. That left Jessica Petrie and Stewart to try and stop the Hoosier star, which they struggled to do despite solid moments. Holmes scored 18 of her 22 points between the second and third quarters, a good portion of that total coming against Markowski but a larger chunk against the bench. Her seven consecutive points late in the third pushed the lead to 19.
Markowski finished with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting to go along with six rebounds, but still had her impact limited some by how long she was able to stay on the floor.
Jordan Hooper Jersey Retirement and Strong Crowd Highlight Day
Nebraska looked to “Pack PBA” on Sunday for the high-profile game, which also featured the team retiring Husker legend Jordan Hooper‘s jersey before the contest.
Her number, which remains available to any Nebraska player, was lifted to the rafters alongside Kelsey Griffin, Maurtice Ivy and Karen Jennings.
Williams and Hooper both spoke pregame, and many alumni were honored throughout the contest.
This all came in front of a season-best crowd of 9,059. That number was significantly lower than the program record-setting 14,000-plus that came to see Nebraska play Caitlin Clark and Iowa in last season’s “Pack PBA” event, but the atmosphere in the building was still strong.
The Huskers aimed high again in heavily promoting a game against one of the Big Ten’s best teams. Once again, they fell flat. Of course, that shouldn’t fully overshadow a day with plenty of great moments.
