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Nebraska Women's Basketball Falls Short to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament's First Round

The Huskers see their season end in Fort Worth.

Kaleb Henry

Nebraska women's basketball players walk off the court in Fort Worth after an NCAA Tournament first round loss to Louisville.
Nebraska women's basketball players walk off the court in Fort Worth after an NCAA Tournament first round loss to Louisville. / Nebraska Athletics
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The run came up short in the final minute.

Ten-seed Nebraska fell Friday to 7-seed Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in Fort Worth, 63-58. The Huskers close their season at 21-12, while the Cardinals improve to 22-10 and advance to the second round against TCU on Sunday.

The game stayed close for most of the first half, with Nebraska using a 6-0 run to lead by five points with 2:45 to play. Louisville would close the half on a 9-0 run and hold the Huskers without a made field goal until the 3:36 mark of the third quarter.

Nebraska forward Amiah Hargrove (right) fights for the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska forward Amiah Hargrove (right) fights for the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth. / Nebraska Athletics

By then, the Cardinals had built a nine-point lead, the largest for either team.

Trailing 50-44 heading into the fourth quarter, Nebraska began the final frame with a 10-0 run. Unfortunatley for the Big Red, the Huskers would make just two more shots the rest of the game.

Louisville used a 6-0 run to take a short-lived 58-56 lead with 1:16 to play. A backdoor cut by Britt Prince on the other end tied the game with just a minute left.

Nebraska guard Britt Prince (23) shoots the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska guard Britt Prince shoots the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth. / Nebraska Athletics

An offensive rebound turned into a shooting foul for the Cardinals, where 1-of-2 were converted. That left Nebraska with the ball, down by one, and 30 seconds to play.

A brilliantly drawn up sideline play had Prince wide open on the wing. Instead of taking the midrange shot, something that had aided her team-high scoring of 14 points, Prince made a drive to the basket where she was met by a Cardinal defender who took the charge.

Four more made free throws for Louisville and a couple missed 3s by Nebraska ended the game.

Nebraska women's basketball played Louisville at TCU's Schollmaier Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.
Nebraska women's basketball played Louisville at TCU's Schollmaier Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Fort Worth, Texas. / Nebraska Athletics

The Huskers shot 44.2% for the game, including 8-of-20 from 3. The Cardinals made 37.3% of their shots, making 4-of-19 from deep.

The big story of the game was the turnovers. Louisville pressured Nebraska in the backcourt for much of the game, turning into 24 Husker turnovers. Those turnovers added up to 15 extra shots for the Cardinals and 27 points off of turnovers.

Alexis Markowski finished her Husker career with program-record 53rd double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Nebraska center Alexis Markowski (right) shoots the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort
Nebraska center Alexis Markowski shoots the ball against Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth. / Nebraska Athletics

This was the fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the Amy Williams era, and third time in the last four years. Nebraska is now 1-4 in the tournament under Williams.

Box score

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

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