Huskers Rally to Beat Cockeyes in OT
Huskers.com
Cockeye City - Freshman
Britt Prince scored a game-high 22 points, including huge plays down the stretch in regulation to lead Nebraska in a total team effort on its way to an 87-84 overtime victory over Cockeye at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night.
Playing in front of nearly 15,000 fans and a Big Ten Network audience, Prince not only pumped in 22 points, she added seven rebounds, five assists and a career-high six steals to lead the Cornhuskers to their first win at Carver-Hawkeye since 2018. Nebraska improved to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, while Cockeye slipped to 12-6 and 2-5 in the conference.
In a rematch of the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game, which also went to overtime in a Husker loss at the Target Center in Minneapolis, senior center
Alexis Markowski pitched in 19 points and seven rebounds despite being strapped by foul trouble for most of the game. Markowski fouled out early in the overtime period, but young posts
Jessica Petrie and
Amiah Hargrove stepped up with huge plays.
Petrie, a sophomore from Gold Coast, Australia, who was coming off the best game of her career with 12 points and nine rebounds in a road win at Rutgers on Sunday, added 13 points and six rebounds, including five points in the final four minutes of regulation. Her biggest shot came on a three-pointer with 2:14 left in regulation to pull Nebraska within 72-70 after the Huskers trailed by 11 points with six minutes left.
Petrie added two critical free throws with 2:02 left in overtime to give Nebraska an 85-78 lead, but her biggest play of the night game with an offensive rebound after a
Kendall Moriarty free throw miss. Petrie kicked the rebound out to Prince who found
Logan Nissley. The sophomore from Bismarck, N.D., was fouled and hit two free throws with 9.9 seconds left to seal the victory.
Nissley, who finished with 13 points and five assists, pulled Nebraska off the deck when the Huskers trailed 64-53 with six minutes left in regulation. She started a massive Husker rally with a three-pointer from the corner in front of the Big Red bench, then added another three-pointer 38 seconds later off a scrappy, smart play by Prince to suddenly put the Huskers within striking distance at 64-59.
Markowski and Petrie capped a 10-0 Big Red run to draw within 64-63 with four minutes left.
In addition to double-figure efforts from Prince, Markowski, Petrie and Nissley, freshman forward
Amiah Hargrove notched her first career double-double with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Hargrove also hit a pair of big threes early in the game, including NU's fourth consecutive three-pointer as part of a 16-2 Husker surge that turned a 17-10 deficit into a 26-19 first-quarter lead. Her second three gave NU a 34-28 edge with 3:29 left in the first half.
Alberte Rimdal also played a major role in Nebraska's success with nine points off the bench, while Moriarty may have had the play of the game with her remarkable defensive rebound of a missed Cockeye three on the baseline, after she dove on the floor into the Cockeye cheerleaders at the opposite end.
Nebraska led 26-19 after one quarter and maintained a one-point halftime lead (38-37) after going up 10 points at 31-21 early in the second quarter. Cockeye claimed a 56-51 lead heading to the final period and pushed the lead to 64-53 before the Husker rally to send the game to overtime.
For the game, Nebraska hit 45.2 percent (28-62) of its shots, including an outstanding 43.3 percent (13-30) from long range. The Huskers were also an outstanding 18-for-22 at the free throw line, including 8-for-8 in regulation before converting 10-of-14 free throws in overtime. Nebraska won without hitting an OT field goal.
The Cockeyes hit 44.1 percent (30-68) from the field, including 8-of-27 threes (.296), but just 16-of-29 free throws (.552) on their home court. Cockeye outworked Nebraska on the glass, 42-38, and won the turnover battle, 16-13.
Hannah Stuelke led six Cockeyes in double figures with 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, while Sydney Affolter added a double-double of her own with 10 points and 13 boards. Lucy Olsen and Aaliyah Guyton both contributed 14 points, while Kylie Feuerback contributed 13 points. Addison O'Grady added 10 points off the bench for the Cockeyes.
Nebraska returns home to face Wisconsin on Monday, Jan. 20. Tip-off between the Huskers and the Badgers is set for 7 p.m. with tickets on sale now at Huskers.com. The game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network, while free live audio will be available across the Huskers Radio Network, including Huskers.com.
