It was supposed to be another win for a likely NCAA Tournament team at home, and another loss for a winless-in-conference-play last place team on the road.
That’s why they play the game.
Despite everything tilting in the other direction, Nebraska women’s basketball lost to Rutgers 71-70 on Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers (14-8 overall, 6-5 Big Ten) had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but the lob pass to the rim with 0.7 seconds left ended with another frustrating miss by Alexis Markowski. The Scarlet Knights (7-17, 1-10) held on for their first conference victory on the season.
Markowski and Jaz Shelley led the way in minutes, shots, and points, but they took a more inefficient route than usual. Both missed ten field goals apiece, with Markowski scoring 13 points on 4-14 shooting and Shelley going 3-13 overall and just 1-8 from 3-point range for her 11 points. Markowski struggled after the break, scoring only 2 of her 13 points on 1-8 shooting.
NU managed just 33.8% on all field goals and 26.9% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Rutgers couldn’t miss, hitting 59.6% overall and 46.7% from downtown. The only reason the Huskers had a chance in the end was turnovers; 23 Scarlet Knight giveaways led to 25 points to keep NU in it to the bitter end.
Kassondra Brown was the hero for Rutgers. She scored a season-high 21 points off the bench, including 7-9 from the floor and 2-3 on 3-pointers. Brown and the Knights’ front line also held All-Big Ten performer Markowski to just five rebounds. Markowski averages 10.4 boards per game and leads the league in double-doubles with 13, including seven in conference play.
With the game tied at halftime 38-38, Rutgers grabbed control in the 3rd quarter. After a Shelley layup to cut the Huskers’ deficit to 46-44, the next six minutes went to the visitors as they put together a 14-5 run to close the period. Add in the first bucket of the 4th quarter, and the Scarlet Knights led 62-49, their largest lead of the contest.
But Nebraska went to work closing the gap. They knocked down their first four shots of the final stanza, including triples by Kendall Moriarty and Logan Nissley, to make it 64-59. Then Maddie Krull buried another from deep to make it a one possession game at 69-66 with 4:22 to go. Two minutes later, it was Darian White hitting a running jumper to cut it to 69-68 with 2:16 remaining.
As teams traded layups, NU grabbed a rebound down one with 15 seconds left. White and Shelley each missed shots that would have given the Huskers the lead, then Markowski capped a nightmare second half with the miss on the catch-and-layup at the rim play as the final buzzer sounded.
Next up for the Big Red is a road trip to Michigan on Tuesday, with the tip-off set for 6:00pm CST.