Huskers Knock Off No. 20 Spartans
Huskers.com
Lincoln -
Alexis Markowski erupted for a career-high 28 points while
Allison Weidner matched her season high with 11, as Nebraska battled back from a 13-point first-half deficit on its way to an 85-80 women's basketball win over No. 20 Michigan State on Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
With the victory, Nebraska extended its Big Ten-best 14-game home-court winning streak while improving to 12-4 on the season and 3-2 in the conference. The Spartans slipped to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.
Markowski added a team-high eight rebounds for the Huskers while going 10-for-19 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Markowski's dominance inside put starter Ines Sotelo in first-half foul trouble and eventually disqualified both Julia Ayrault and Grace VanSlooten from the game late in the fourth quarter.
While Markowski controlled the paint, Weidner came off the bench and ignited the Big Red backcourt in her best performance of the season. The 5-10 guard from Humphrey, Neb., scored 11 points and added six assists while neutralizing Michigan State's suffocating full-court defense after a shaky start for the Huskers that saw the well-rested and well-prepared Spartans take a 10-0 lead.
Freshman guard
Britt Prince put three Huskers in double figures with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists, but it was a true all-around effort. Fellow freshman
Amiah Hargrove pumped in seven points and grabbed six rebounds including five boards in the final five minutes to help seal Nebraska's first win over a top-25 foe this season.
Senior
Alberte Rimdal added eight big points off the bench, while
Jessica Petrie and
Logan Nissley each pitched in six points.
Petra Bozan contributed five points, while
Callin Hake scored all four of her points in the fourth quarter while adding four rebounds and making multiple key defensive plays from start to finish.
In an exciting first half filled with huge momentum swings, Michigan State built a 19-6 lead on a VanSlooten shot with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
Nebraska then got back-to-back buckets inside from Markowski, and after a third straight defensive stop, Hargrove was fouled by Jocelyn Tate with 45 seconds left in the period. It was Tate's second foul and the game immediately changed.
Hargrove hit both free throws, and after a pair of free throws by MSU's Ayrault, Prince sank Nebraska's first three-pointer of the game with 15 seconds left to send the Huskers to the second quarter trailing 21-15.
After closing the quarter on a 9-2 surge, Nebraska firmly took momentum in the second period getting consecutive three-pointers from Nissley, Hargrove and Rimdal to take its first lead of the game at 24-23 with 8:18 left in the half.
MSU's Emma Shumate answered with a three to momentarily halt an 18-4 Big Red boom, but Prince responded with a traditional three-point play to to spark a 15-0 run that gave the Huskers a 39-26 lead with 2:35 left in the half. Markowski scored Nebraska's final six points of the half to finish with 12 points and six rebounds in the game's opening 20 minutes, while the Huskers took a 43-33 lead to the locker room.
Petrie scored all six of her first-half points in the second quarter, while Weidner and Prince both pitched in six in the half. Rimdal and Hargrove each added five first-half points.
The Huskers hit 14-of-33 first-half shots (.420) including 4-of-7 threes, while going 11-for-11 at the free throw line. NU held MSU to 12-of-32 shooting, including 2-of-8 threes, while hitting 7-of-7 free throws. The Spartans outworked the Huskers on the glass, 22-17, but won the lfirst-half turnover battle, 13-7.
Nebraska continued to play solid basketball in the third quarter, scoring at will for the first eight minutes and eventually building its biggest lead at 66-49 on a Bojan three-point play with 2:12 left in the third period.
But the Spartans showed why they are ranked in the top 20 nationally by scoring the final six points of the quarter to cut the margin to 66-55 heading to the fourth and continuing to put pressure on the Big Red to chip away at the lead.
Michigan State kept the momentum with consistent scoring from VanSlooten and Theryn Hallock early in the fourth period, cutting the margin to 71-66 with more than five minutes left.
Nebraska then answered with an 8-1 surge to push the margin back to 79-67 on a Hargrove putback with three minutes left. Michigan State refused to quick and continued to stay in the game to the final buzzer.
Ayrault led the Spartans with 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Hallock added 18 points. VanSlooten finished with 12 points off the bench.
Nebraska finished 26-of-59 (.441) from the field, including 5-for-14 (.357) from three-point range. The Huskers also hit a season-high 28 free throws on 35 attempts, while holding the Spartans to 14-of-19 shooting from the line. MSU entered the game at No. 1 in the nation in free throw attempts with 26 per game.
Nebraska also won the turnover battle, 18-15, against a Spartan squad that was averaging a plus-10 turnover margin per game. Michigan State hit 44.6 percent (29-65) of its shots, including 8-of-26 threes (.308), while winning the battle of the boards, 39-38.
The Huskers return to Big Ten road action by traveling to Rutgers on Sunday. Tip-off with the Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, N.J., is set for 1 p.m. (CT) with a live video stream for B1G+ subscribers. The game can also be heard live on the Huskers Radio Network, including Huskers.com.
