A furious rally fell just short as the Nebraska women’s basketball team fell to Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, losing 63-58 Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Alexis Markowski paced the Cornhuskers (21-12) in her final game for NU, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to notch her school-record 53rd career double-double. Britt Prince scored 14 points and dished out six assists before fouling out in her first NCAA tournament game.
Nebraska led 14-12 through one quarter and led 32-27 with 2:45 to go in the first half. But the Cardinals (22-10) closed the half on a 9-0 run to take a 36-27 lead to the halftime locker room. Louisville opened a 42-33 lead midway through the third quarter before the Huskers began to rally. NU cut the deficit to 46-44 with 1:10 to go before the Cardinals scored the last four points of the quarter to lead 50-44 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Huskers started the final period on a 10-0 run. A three-pointer by Alberte Rimdal gave Nebraska 54-50 lead with 6:33 remaining in regulation. A Rimdal layup pushed the lead back to four with 3:26 to go. But then the Cardinals scored six straight points to take the lead. After Prince made a shot in the lane to tie the game at 58 with 59 seconds to go, Louisville knocked down five free throws to earn the win.
The Cardinals advance to take on host school TCU Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, the Huskers’ season ends with a trip to the NCAA Tournament, despite losing starting guard Natalie Potts in the first month of the season and starting guard Allison Weidner midway through conference play. NU pushed into the Big Dance for the third time in the last four years.