For the second straight road game against a top-four opponent, Nebraska women’s basketball hung in for a half before ultimately losing big. This time, No. 4 USC defeated the Huskers, 75-55, Wednesday in Los Angeles. The loss was Nebraska’s (10-4, 1-2 B1G) third straight, though all three losses have been to ranked opposition.
Logan Nissley led the Huskers in scoring with 14 points on four three-pointers. Britt Prince ended up just shy of a double-double for NU with 10 points and eight rebounds. Alexis Markowski had seven points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, the Trojans (13-1, 3-0 B1G) were led by All-American and national player of the year candidate JuJu Watkins, who scored 26 points on 11-for-12 from the free-throw line. Kiki Iriafen tallied 14 points for USC.
The Trojans dominated down low, outscoring the Huskers in the paint, 42-18. They were also much more opportunistic than the Huskers, converting 19 NU turnovers into 25 points while Nebraska cashed in 11 turnovers for just 10 points.
Still, Nebraska was able to keep the game close for a half. When the teams went to the locker room at intermission, USC led 39-34. But the Trojans took over from there, building a 59-45 lead through three quarters and a lead as large as 26 down the stretch to cruise to victory.
Nebraska will try to get back on track Sunday at 2 p.m. at home against Penn State. B-107.3 will have pregame coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.