Huskers Fall in Final Minute to No. 12 Buckeyes
Huskers.com
Lincoln -
Alexis Markowski led Nebraska with 18 points, but No. 12 Ohio State made enough plays down the stretch to outlast the Huskers, 72-66, in front of 9,772 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Markowski, who added six rebounds to move into sole possession of second place on Nebraska's career rebound list at 1,118, converted a three-point play with 3:11 left to pull the Huskers within 65-63. She finished another shot at the rim to keep NU within 68-66 with 1:42 left, but the Buckeyes got the final four points of the game in the final 25 seconds at the free throw line from Madison Greene to seal the win.
Nebraska, which had its five-game overall winning streak and 15-game home winning streak snapped, slipped to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten. Ohio State improved to 19-1 and 8-1 in the conference. All three of NU's Big Ten losses have come at the hands of the top three teams in the league - No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 USC and No. 12 Ohio State.
Callin Hake pumped in 12 points, including a trio of three-pointers, while adding four rebounds and three steals for the Huskers, who led 21-17 after the first quarter and 38-36 at halftime. Freshman
Britt Prince pitched in eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals while shutting out Ohio State freshman Jaloni Cambridge, who went just 0-1 from the field in 17 minutes while committing five turnovers. Cambridge entered the game averaging better than 15 points per game.
Alberte Rimdal also contributed eight points and three assists off the bench for the Big Red, while
Jessica Petrie added six points, six rebounds and three assists.
Ohio State took control of the game with a big third quarter from Cotie McMahon. The All-Big Ten forward scored 11 of her 15 points for the game in the period to push the Buckeyes to a 61-55 edge heading to the fourth quarter. McMahon added a game-high 10 rebounds to go with three assists and three steals for the Buckeyes.
Taylor Thierry did the most damage for Ohio State, knocking down a career-high five three-pointers to finish with a game-high 23 points. Thierry went 8-for-10 overall from the field while adding seven rebounds and three steals. Her final three-pointer stopped a 7-0 Husker run late in the fourth to put the Buckeyes back in front 68-64 after Nebraska had cut the lead to 65-64 on a Hake free throw with 2:27 left.
Greene, who sealed the win at the free throw line, was the only other player to finish in double figures with 11 points.
Nebraska electrified the third-largest crowd for a Husker women's basketball game in PBA history by jumping to a 15-9 lead in the first 5:30. Markowski and Hake both scored six points, while freshman
Amiah Hargrove added a three-pointer to put the Big Red in front early.
Ohio State answered to take its first lead at 22-21 early in the second quarter, before the Huskers responded with an 8-0 run to grab their biggest lead at 29-22 with 5:32 left in the first half.
The Buckeyes finished the first half with a flurry and appeared to take a 39-38 to halftime on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Greene to end the half. Upon review, Greene was out of bounds on the shot and the points were wiped off the board before the start of the second half.
The two teams opened the third quarter in a possession-for-possession dogfight with Nebraska taking its last lead of the game on
Alberte Rimdal's three-pointer with under four minutes left to make it 53-52. Thierry answered with a three of her own with 3:30 left to put the Buckeyes back in front for good. OSU built several eight-point leads over the next seven minutes before
Logan Nissley connected on her only three-pointer of the game to start NU's seven-point fourth-quarter run.
Nebraska hits just 37.9 percent (25-66) of its shots from the field, including 9-of-35 threes (.257), while going just 7-of-13 at the free throw line. The Buckeyes answered with 50 percent (27-54) shooting, including 7-of-20 threes (.350). OSU also hit 11-of-16 free throws. The Buckeyes won the rebounding battle, 38-37, but the Huskers pulled down 12 offensive boards compared to just five for Ohio State. Nebraska also won the turnover battle, 16-13, against an Ohio State team that led the conference in turnover margin (+11.4) entering the contest.
The Huskers return to Big Ten road action by traveling to Purdue on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Boilermakers from Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., is set for 6 p.m. (CT) with a live video stream for B1G+ subscribers. The game can also be heard across the Huskers Radio Network, including Huskers.com.
