Ohio State, the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament bracket and the presumed semifinal matchup should the Huskers make it there, lost. Eight-seed Maryland dominated the Buckeyes, earning an 82-61 victory.
The Terrapins stand as an intimidating foe in their own right for anyone, but facing a team it had beaten once already was preferred for Nebraska. The Huskers stood no chance against Ohio State in their lone meeting, and the Buckeyes’ full-court press might have just been too difficult for them to overcome.
It was too early to think about that, though. Nebraska still had to beat Michigan State for a second time this season. The Spartans earned the double bye and entered on a five-game winning streak. It was worth questioning whether the team could actually take advantage of the opportunity in front of it.
The answer ended up being yes. Michigan State led after one quarter of play, but the Huskers dominated the second and third to take a 20-point lead. Similar to the first matchup between the two, the Spartans attempted a late push, but never got their deficit down to single-digits. Nebraska won 73-61.
“I’m just so proud of this red team right now and I just can’t even hardly see straight,” head coach Amy Williams said postgame. “I thought we played great defensively. We held them about 20 points I think below their season average and just had great contributions from all over the place.”
Things were a bit uglier in the opening quarter. Nebraska was only down one by the end of it, but Michigan State got to the rim for easy points often and the Huskers at times seemed out of sorts trying to score. Alexis Markowski missed six of her first seven shots, including a string of four missed layups. She got her own rebound on the first three, but still could not finish.
“I was trying to tell myself that hopefully those were all the misses I was gonna have today,” the junior center said. “But yeah, my teammates just came up to me and just instilled some confidence like, ‘We’re gonna keep going to you, you got the next one.”
Williams expressed a similar sentiment, and the team was right. Markowski made her next seven shots, including scoring 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting in the second quarter. She outscored Michigan State by herself in that period, as the Spartans were held to seven points.
“I thought we had some miscommunications in our transition defense there early,” Williams said. “Left some people where they were able to get paint touches, and I thought we shored that up, had a much better second quarter and it gave us the confidence that we could defend.”
The Huskers took a seven-point advantage into the break, and extended it further with a 26-point third quarter. True freshman Logan Nissley had 11 of those, hitting three 3-pointers. Freshman Natalie Potts also added six of her 15 points and two blocks in the period. The young talents continued to play a key role in the team finding success.
Michigan State brought full-court press throughout the contest, but Nebraska never wavered much against it. The Huskers had 11 turnovers, and five in the second quarter, but they mostly came on offensive fouls and tipped passes after they had passed midcourt.
“Yeah, that’s something that we’ve struggled with this season. And it was a point of emphasis and we knew we needed to buy into our press break,” Jaz Shelley said. “And I think people really wanted the basketball and we did a really really good job today.”
Shelley continued her strong stretch of play, scoring 17 points and dishing out five assists. Markowski put up a team-high 22 points, while also recording a double-double with 12 boards. Potts also had a double-double, filling up the stat sheet with 15 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
The Huskers outrebounded their opponent 44-30, with 18 coming on the offensive glass. That effort will be needed tomorrow if the team is to beat Maryland again in the semifinals. When they played the Terrapins in December, they grabbed 20 offensive boards in a similarly dominant rebounding effort.
“It was a physical game and tomorrow is gonna be even more physical,” Markowski said about Friday’s contest. “…Every game is a battle and the team that rebounds better usually ends up on top.”
