Nebraska Women's Basketball falls in overtime to No. 2 Iowa 94-89 in Big Ten Championship
Nebraska Women’s Basketball (22-11, 11-7) stumbled in overtime to lose to No. 2 Iowa 94-89 in the Big Ten Championship. The Hawkeyes secured their three straight Big Ten Tournament championship. The Huskers advanced to their first conference championship since 2014, in which they beat Iowa 72-65.
Iowa (29-4, 15-3) overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to force overtime. The All-Time NCAA leading scorer Caitlin Clark had four points in the first half but finished with 34 points and 12 assists for the Hawkeyes. She scored 24 second-half points and six in overtime.
Hannah Stuelke had 25 points in nine rebounds. Sydney Affolter, who started with Molly Davis injured, had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
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Alexis Markowski led the Huskers with 23 points and 13 rebounds. This was her 19th double-double this season and 40th career double-double to tie for the most in Husker history. Freshman Natalie Potts had 21 points and nine rebounds.
Jaz Shelley also had a double-double with 16 points and 13 assists. Shelley’s 18 three-pointers broke the record for most threes in a single Big Ten Tournament.
Both Markowski and Shelley were All-Big Ten Tournament team selections. Clark, Affolter and Michigan’s Laila Phelia were also on the team.
Next, the Huskers will find out their NCAA Tournament seed and placement during the NCAA Selection Show at 6:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 17.
Huskers dominate first half
Gabbie Marshall struck first as she swished a wide-open transition three-pointer. Markowski and Moriarty scored back-to-back layups to take a 4-3 lead.
Markowski sparked a 9-0 scoring run after making a rare three-pointer. Shelley hit a smooth mid-range jumper and then Annika Stewart drained a deep shot from behind the arc to go up 13-5 with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
Kendall Coley kept the three party going to take a 16-5 lead. After Affolter scored Iowa’s first points in three minutes with two free throws, Shelley hit another three.
Clark, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year, went scoreless until a layup with three minutes left in the quarter. Iowa capitalized on the bit of momentum as Hannah Stuelke made a bucket and sank the extra point.
Iowa went on an 8-0 run at the end of the first quarter. Fremont native Taylor McCabe nailed an open three to make it 21-17 with a minute remaking. Markowski ended the Hawkeyes’ run with a paint jumper.
The Huskers led 23-17 after the first quarter. They started on a 16-7 run and held Clark to two points.
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Stuelke was the first to draw blood in the second quarter. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Natalie Potts responded with back-to-back buckets against Stuelke herself. NU took a 27-19 lead two minutes into the second.
Clark didn’t score again until 5:25 in the second. The Huskers continued to switch up their defense to keep the generational talent on edge.
Nissley combated Clark’s layup with an open shot from behind the arc. Coley intercepted a pass and sent it to Nissley for the assist. NU went up 34-28 with 4:31 remaining in the first half.
Iowa is one of the most high-power offenses in the country and Nebraska knew they needed to score and score to keep up with them. And they did.
After Stuelke made it 34-30, NU went on a 9-0 scoring run. Potts had six points in the run.
The Hawkeyes scored five points in the last minute, but Shelley ended the half with another buzzer-beater three-pointer, her second of the tournament. NU led 46-35 at the half.
Clark went 2-for-13 from the floor in the first half. She had four points and eight assists.
Second half battle
Iowa started off hot in the second quarter. Clark started the half with a layup. She hit her first three of the game 90 seconds into the half.
Shelley responded with her 16th three-pointer of the tournament, breaking the all-time record. Kate Martin joined the run with another shot from behind the arc, her first points of the game. She cut Nebraska’s lead to 51-45 with 6:47 left in the third.
While Clark struggled to score, Steulke carried the Hawkeyes’ offense. She had six points early in the third quarter, dominating the paint.
Iowa went on an 8-0 scoring run halfway through the third quarter. Stuelke had two great layups, one in transition and one contested, and Affolter went 2-for-2 at the free throw line. They cut Nebraska’s lead to 52-51 with four minutes left in the third.
Clark grabbed Iowa’s first lead since 6:59 in the first quarter with 2 minutes remaining. She laid the ball on a give-and-go layup. After four first-half points, Clark has 12 points in the third quarter.
Nebraska didn’t score for four minutes during Iowa’s eight-point swing. Potts hit a much-needed jumper to take back the lead. But after a Nissley free-throw, Clark nailed a contested three. Markowski swished her second three-pointer of the game to go up 58-56. Clark made two free throws to tie it up 58-58 heading into the fourth quarter.
After an opening three from Potts, Iowa got the edge to start the fourth. They scored seven of the next nine points.
But back-to-back threes from Hake and Nissley within 52 seconds gave Nebraska a 69-65 lead. While the Huskers were on a 6-0 run, Iowa didn’t score for two minutes.
Markowski had back-to-back contested layups to put her team up 73-67 with 3:44 left.
Iowa scored five points in five minutes, all from Clark’s hand. She ended a 6-0 Husker scoring run with a step-back three with 2:09 left. She found Stuelke for a fastbreak layup on the next possession.
Shelley found Markowski under the hoop for a layup. But on the other end, Clark found a wide-open Martin the corner for a three. Iowa closed the gap to 77-75 with 42 seconds left.
After a Husker timeout and an empty Husker possession, Clark tied it up 77-77 with a layup with 29 seconds left.
Nissley’s shot was short and Iowa and Nebraska embarked on overtime tied at 77-77.
Iowa takes over in OT
Iowa started overtime with five quick points. However, Nebraska fought back with two straight layups from Markowski and Potts. Nissley hits a fearless three to make it a 7-0 scoring run and give the Huskers an 84-82 lead.
Martin cooled down the Huskers’ run with her second three-pointer of overtime. Potts fouled Clark, who was driving to the hoop. She went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.
Nissley nailed another three to send a message that NU wasn’t done.
But Clark swished a three of her own to take an 89-87 lead with 51 seconds left. The senior spoiled NU’s next possession with a steal and was fouled. Of course, she made both shots to take a 91-87 lead with 37 seconds left.
Marshall blocked star freshman Nissley on a three-point attempt to give the Hawkeyes the ball with 27 seconds left. Iowa shut down Nebraska’s final three possessions to win 94-89, capturing their third-straight Big Ten Championship.
