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Huskers Survive Late Scare at Michigan State
Nebraska women's basketball picked up its fourth straight victory Saturday with a road win against the Michigan State Spartans. It was a team victory for the Cornhuskers as Nebraska finished with four players in double figures and seven scoring eight or more points in the Big Ten opener for both squads.
It was a very competitive first quarter in East Lansing. The first frame saw 11 lead changes, with both sides shooting over 40% from the field. Michigan State showed off its impressive full-court press, disrupting the potent Nebraska offense and forcing turnovers. While Nebraska struggled to get down the court, the Huskers found their footing offensively. NU hit nine of 19 shots and three 3-pointers. Six Huskers found the scoresheet, led by freshman Jessica Petrie with six points.
An already back-and-forth quarter ended with a wild sequence. With less than five seconds left, Logan Nissley threw up a three-pointer, which was rejected. Nissley rebounded her miss and gave the ball to Kendall Coley, who heaved the ball from over 30 feet from the basket. Coley drained the shot, getting it off with only 0.2 seconds to spare, and gave NU massive momentum heading into the second quarter up 21-19
Quarter two was a game of runs. A 7-0 run by Nebraska was answered with a 6-0 MSU run in the first three minutes of the quarter. The Huskers then began to break away with an 8-0 run, giving themselves a 36-25 lead. The Spartans did not go away quietly, mustering a 12-2 scoring spurt, cutting the lead to 1. A Jaz Shelley three stopped the bleeding for the Big Red, making the score 41-37.
Up two, NU held the ball under the MSU basket with less than two seconds left. The ball was quickly inbounded to a wide-open Kendall Coley on the left elbow. Coley put up a jump shot and knocked down her second buzzer-beater in the game to put the Huskers up 43-39 heading into the locker rooms.
Nebraska opened up the second half with an 8-2 run, giving the Huskers a 51-41 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the quarter. The two sides traded buckets and points the rest of the way as the Huskers went into the fourth quarter up 60-52
After not recording a point in the first half, Alexis Markowski stepped up for the Big Red. The All-Big Ten funior forward was consistently fed the ball in the third quarter. She led NU with 5 points on 2-of-3 shooting. Markowksi also dominated the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds in the quarter. She finished with 17 in the game.
Nebraska dominated to start the fourth quarter. The Big Red strung together a 13-4 run to open the game's final frame, extending the Huskers' lead to 17 with five minutes left.
MSU could not take the lid off the basket. The Spartans opened up the fourth period on 2-9 shooting, shot 40% from the floor overall, and went an abysmal 4-27 from three. Despite their massive struggles from behind the arc, the Spartans fought until the final buzzer. Michigan State rattled off a 14-3 run in the game's last two minutes, propelling MSU back into the game.
Nebraska struggled all night with the Spartans' continuous defensive pressure, coughing up the ball 24 times in the game, including three during MSU's late-game surge.
NU supplemented the Spartans' comeback by missing late free throws and fouling on a wide-open layup on the other end. MSU closed the gap to four with 11 seconds remaining, but two Shelley free throws and a good defensive possession allowed Nebraska to walk away with an 80-74 victory.
Petrie finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Shelley had 11 to go with seven rebounds and nine assists.
Nebraska is now 8-2 on the season and will play its next game against Southern University at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday, Dec. 17. Michigan State fell to 7-2.
