Nebraska women’s basketball closed nonconference play with a loss, scoring a season-worst 52 points on the road against Kansas.
The Huskers surrendered a couple big runs in the second quarter, and were unable to climb out of their 15-point halftime hole. Here are three takeaways from the game:
Nebraska Offense Falls Flat
Heading into Wednesday night, Nebraska had scored at least 71 points in every game this season. Midway through the fourth quarter, it wasn’t even halfway to that number.
The Huskers shot 28.6% from the field in the game and went 5-for-24 from three. They ended with 15 free-throw attempts, but that number was boosted by the 12 that came in the final 4:08 of game time. Nebraska was forced into bad shot attempts and turnovers all night, and couldn’t capitalize on a significant portion of the good looks it had.
“We were out of sorts, and I just don’t understand it,” head coach Amy Williams said postgame on Huskers Radio Network.
She pointed to rushed shots, follow throughs not being held and attempts inside the arc seemingly being tossed up at the backboard. This could be seen across the team, but perhaps most evident in the starting guard duo of Jaz Shelley and Darian White. The fifth-year players combined to shoot 3-for-17. Shelley didn’t look like herself from beyond the arc, banking in her only make of the night, while White struggled to get good looks inside against a bigger Kansas lineup.
Natalie Potts was the lone Husker to shoot above 50%, making two of her three attempts from the floor. Alexis Markowski was the only one to score in double figures, putting up 19 points in a strong effort. The center shot 7-for-19, but was 6-for-12 entering the fourth quarter as she kept her team in the game.
Credit should be given to Kansas for its defensive effort, led by 6-foot-6 center Taiyanna Jackson, and the Husker defense left plenty to be desired as well. Still, Nebraska’s scoring struggles were the main culprit for the loss.
Fun Battle Between Alexis Markowski and Taiyanna Jackson
In a game that otherwise looked ugly at many points, the battle at center between Markowski and Jackson provided some fireworks.
Last time the Husker star played in Allen Fieldhouse, she was limited to two points on 1-for-10 shooting. She made clear that wouldn’t happen again, scoring Nebraska’s first four points.
Markowski hasn’t been afraid to go up against bigger centers this season, also making impressive plays against 6-foot-7 Sedona Prince in the team’s loss to TCU. Her aggressiveness was on display early Wednesday, and she did well on both ends.
It became clear early on that her presence on the court was a necessity. She subbed out with Nebraska up 7-4 at the 4:45 mark of the opening quarter. Jackson immediately went to work, scoring back-to-back buckets to give Kansas the lead. Markowski came right back in following the second.
In the second quarter, foul trouble popped up. Nebraska’s center picked up a second foul early in the period, and when Jackson entered minutes later, she grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a layup. This pressured Williams to put Markowski back in, but the junior was called for an offensive foul soon after.
Nebraska outscored Kansas by five points in Markowski’s 11 first-half minutes, making it -20 in the nine minutes without her. Jackson scored all of her six first-half points in this time, and Kansas as a whole had an easier time with true freshman Jessica Petrie and minutes-restricted Annika Stewart in the paint.
The battle between the starting centers heated up in the second half as Markowski didn’t pick up another foul for the rest of the contest. She scored some more in the third quarter, and exchanged words with her matchup after blocking her in the post and drawing a foul on the rebound. Jackson certainly got the best of Markowski in moments, and finished with a statline of 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
She was a big reason her team won, and the performance of the starters around her didn’t hurt either. For Kansas, Zakiyah Franklin, S’Mya Nichols and Wyvette Mayberry all scored in double figures.
Looking Back on Nonconference Play
Big Ten play makes up the rest of Nebraska’s regular season, and the Huskers will go into it with a record of 9-3.
In nonconference play, it went 8-3. Overall, that’s not a bad mark to have, but perhaps also not a great one.
Nebraska lost what likely will hold as its toughest three games of nonconference play, dropping games to Creighton, TCU and Kansas. Two of those squads are currently ranked, while the Jayhawks were last year’s WNIT champs and have taken four losses to high-quality opponents. There’s not much shame to be had in the results, especially with two being close losses, but a win in at least one of those contests surely would have the team feeling much better.
Instead, the Huskers’ best triumphs in nonconference were wins against Wyoming on the road and Georgia Tech at home. Along with that, they started the Big Ten schedule with a win at Michigan State.
Compare this early resume to last year’s WNIT Nebraska team. It took worse losses, being blown out on the road against Creighton, Drake and Virginia Tech. At the same time, those Huskers secured an overtime neutral-site win over eventual NCAA Tournament team Mississippi State, won decisively at Maryland and outlasted Kansas in triple overtime. Those highs should be better than this team’s.
Obviously, no panic buttons should be pressed at this point. Nebraska’s consistency will be key in watching its potential path back to the NCAA Tournament.
Big Ten play opens with a test, as the Huskers will close out 2023 by hosting Maryland at home on December 31.
