The Nebraska women’s basketball team remained undefeated and cruised to an 80-57 win over Purdue-Fort Wayne Monday in the first round of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla. The Cornhuskers moved to 5-0 with the win, entering Tuesday’s championship game against Virginia, which defeated Northwestern State, 69-48.
Britt Prince again led Nebraska in scoring with 18 points on eight-for-14 shooting while also dishing out seven assists. Eliza Maupin added 13 points on a perfect six-for-six shooting from the field (plus one three-pointer), while Amiah Hargrove and Logan Nissley each scored 11. Rylee Bess led the Mastadons in scoring with 17 points, while Lili Krasovec tallied 12. The Huskers comfortably out-shot Purdue-Fort Wayne, 57 percent to 39 percent and outrebounded them, 34-28. Nebraska had a 15-point advantage in bench scoring and a 16-point edge in scoring in the paint.
The Huskers led 16-10 with four minutes to go in the first quarter, before the Mastadons went on a 7-0 run to briefly pull ahead, 17-16, early in the second quarter. Purdue-Fort Wayne held a 23-19 lead with seven minutes to go in the first half before Nebraska took control of the game. A 6-0 run put NU on top, 25-23. The Mastadons tied the game at 25 with four minutes remaining the second quarter, before the Huskers took over. Nebraska ended the half on an 11-0 run to take a 36-25 lead to halftime. The Huskers scored the first five points of the third quarter, taking the run to 16 straight points to bolster the lead to 17, 43-26 a minute into the second half. Nebraska’s lead was 54-44 heading to the fourth quarter. Purdue-Fort Wayne cut the lead to seven twice in the fourth quarter, but got no closer. A 20-4 Husker run in the middle of the fourth quarter removed all drama from the proceedings.
Nebraska now prepares to take on Virginia and Northwestern State in the championship game of the Emerald Coast Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 7 p.m. on B-107.3.