Nebraska girls’s basketball continued its unbelievable season on Friday in Corvallis because the Huskers defeated Texas A&M within the first spherical of the NCAA event.
That is Nebraska’s first win in three NCAA event appearances beneath head coach Amy Williams. The eighth-year head coach had the Huskers in a first-rate place to win this recreation, as they had been the sixth seed within the area, the very best seed they’ve had beneath her.
Nebraska began the sport on an excellent notice, leaping out to an early 6-0 run. The Huskers had been capable of management the inside on protection and gave the Aggies issues. Nevertheless, junior middle Alexis Markowski picked up her second foul early within the first quarter, forcing Nebraska to bench certainly one of its star gamers and finest inside forces early.
After Markowski went out, the Huskers had some struggles on offense. Nebraska didn’t get going from past the arc early, failing to make a 3-pointer within the first quarter. The Huskers appeared to the inside to attain, however with out Markowski, they bumped into some points. Senior guard Jaz Shelley, the crew’s second-leading scorer, additionally struggled to discover a rhythm within the opening quarter, solely scoring two factors and taking pictures 1-of-5 from the sphere.
However, Texas A&M was snug from downtown going 3-of-6 on 3-pointers, however couldn’t get many high quality inside appears to be like, taking pictures 1-of-8 on two-point discipline objectives within the interval. Regardless of Nebraska’s offensive troubles and the Aggies stringing collectively some buckets, the Huskers had been nonetheless capable of maintain a 14-12 lead heading into the second interval.
To open the second quarter, Nebraska discovered a spark. Freshman guard Logan Nissley opened up the body with a 3-pointer to get the Huskers going from past the arc. Senior guard Darian White added one other bucket, and it wasn’t lengthy till White discovered Nissley once more for one more 3-pointer.
The struggles for Texas A&M began to snowball as certainly one of its crew leaders, sophomore ahead Janiah Barker, picked up her third foul, forcing certainly one of its finest offensive gamers to the bench till the second half. Shedding Barker was tough for the Aggies, as they didn’t rating for the final 4 minutes.
Similar to Texas A&M, Nebraska additionally didn’t get a lot happening the offensive finish. Shelley’s offensive woes continued as she didn’t rating within the second quarter. After their early run within the interval, the Huskers didn’t discover any rhythm inflicting them to additionally go on a scoring drought, nevertheless, they nonetheless led 27-20 going into the half.
Similar to the second quarter, Nissley opened up the third with a pair of 3-pointers. Junior guard Kendall Moriarty additionally added a triple, making her the primary Nebraska participant outdoors of Nissley to hit a 3-pointer within the recreation and make the run 9-0 for the Huskers.
The Aggies discovered some offense, however Nebraska was relentless within the third quarter. The Huskers had a balanced assault with six totally different gamers scoring within the interval, which was important for Nebraska in rising its result in as a lot as 17.
Nevertheless, Texas A&M didn’t go down with out a combat. The Aggies went on an 8-0 run in direction of the tip of the third quarter led by senior guard Aicha Coulibaly to shut the hole nevertheless, they had been nonetheless down 48-38 heading into the ultimate quarter.
Texas A&M continued to threaten within the fourth quarter, pressuring the Huskers on protection and letting Coulibaly dominate on offense. The Aggie run helped them chip away on the deficit and get it right down to a single possession midway by way of the ultimate quarter. They tied it up with a minute remaining.
With beneath a minute left, Markowski put Nebraska forward 58-56 with a layup, nevertheless, Coulibaly continued her dominance and put Texas A&M forward with a putback and one. The Huskers answered again because the Aggies dedicated an off-ball foul and gave Nissley two free throws she transformed.
Texas A&M appeared to take the lead however the Huskers stopped a driving Barker and referred to as a timeout. On the following inbound, the Aggies fouled Shelley who transformed certainly one of two free throws giving Nebraska a two-point lead and the Texas A&M the ball. The Aggies superior the ball with a timeout and located an open look from past the arc, however had been unable to transform, giving the Huskers a 61-59 win.
This win marks Williams’s first NCAA event win at Nebraska. She returned many members of the 2021 event crew this season and she or he lastly acquired the elusive event win she had been looking for.
The Huskers are nonetheless dancing as they’ll play No. 3 seed Oregon State, the regional host, on Sunday with an opportunity to advance to the Candy Sixteen for the primary time since 2013.
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