Alexis Markowski scored a career-high 35 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for her 50th career double-double to lead Nebraska women’s basketball to a 94-90 overtime over Oregon Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers overcame the absence of point guard Britt Prince, who missed the game with an ankle injury. Nebraska was already without guards Natalie Potts and Allison Weidner, who’ve missed significant time. Markowski was 13-for-24 shooting from the field, including six three-pointers. Callin Hake added 17 points and seven assists. Logan Nissley contributed 16 points on 5-for-9 from behind the arc, while Alberte Rimdal tallied 15 points off the bench.
Oregon was led by Deja Kelly’s 22 points on 7-for-16 shooting, as well as Nala Falatea’s 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from three-point range. Nebraska won the battle on the boards, 49-32, and had 24 assists to the Ducks’ 15.
The game was hotly contested, with 12 ties and 11 lead changes. Oregon opened the game on a 10-0 run, but the Huskers fought back to tie the game at 18 at the end of the first quarter. The Huskers led by as many as seven in the second quarter, but the Ducks surged back into the game and took the lead, 32-30, with 4:53 remaining until halftime. The teams were separated by one possession or less the rest of the quarter. NU led 40-39 headed to the halftime locker room.
But Oregon darted out of the halftime break, outscoring Nebraska 19-6 in the first 5:12 of the third quarter to lead, 58-46. The Ducks grew the lead to 65-51 with 1:53 to go in the third quarter. NU chipped it down to 67-57 at the end of the third quarter.
Nebraska continued to work its way back into the game, outscoring Oregon 13-3 the first 4:04 of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 70. The teams stayed within three points of each other the rest of the fourth quarter. After Falatea hit a three to give Oregon an 81-78 lead with 37 seconds to go, Markowski answered with a three nine seconds later to tie the game at 81, which would be the score at the end of regulation.
The Cornhuskers and Ducks traded threes to start the overtime, then Markowski drained a three to give NU an 87-84 lead with 2:28 remaining in OT. After Oregon hit a free throw to cut the lead to two, a Callin Hake three boosted the Huskers’ lead to 90-85 with 57 seconds to go in overtime. Phillipina Kyei converted a three-point play to slice Nebraska’s lead to 90-88 with 44 seconds to go, but Hake sealed the win with a three to push the lead to 93-88 with 35 seconds to go.
Nebraska now prepares for its final home game of the season Sunday against Washington at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Pregame coverage begins at 1:30 p.m., with tipoff at 2 p.m. on B-107.3.