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The Nebraska women’s basketball team picked up its third straight win Saturday night with a 71-46 victory over Samford at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers recorded their lowest-scoring first half in program history but were able to overcome it thanks to a 29-point third quarter and double-doubles from Alexis Markowski and Allison Weidner. Markowski finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds while Weidner had 15 and 11 respectively. Jaz Shelley also added 15 points in the win.
“It was a tale of two halves for sure,” said Amy Williams, who recorded her 200th win at the Division I level Saturday night. “I’m proud of the resiliency and them coming back out and I thought Allison set the tone for us in the second half with her defensive presence and (we) shot the ball obviously way better and took better shots in the second half.”
Nebraska shot 55.6% (20-for-36) in the second half and the Huskers made 10 of their 17 shots from behind the arc. Nebraska finished 26-for-65 (40%) from the field overall 11-for-29 (37.9%) from three-point range.
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However, Nebraska went down 7-2 early and trailed 9-7 after one quarter. The Huskers got off to a slow start offensively as Williams’ squad finished the first quarter 3-for-16 (18.8%) from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range.
Nebraska’s shooting woes continued and the Bulldogs stretched their lead to five – 12-7 – as Macey Lee drained a three 46 seconds into the second quarter. Nebraska made just one of its first six second-quarter shots and finished the first half 6-for-29 (20.7%) from the field and 1-for-12 (8.3%) from deep. Nebraska also turned the ball over 10 times in the half.
Markowski – who led NU with seven first-half points – made a layup and an and-one, making it a 16-15 game. But the final 2:11 of the half remained scoreless, sending Nebraska back to the locker room down by one.
“In the locker room we talked about just resetting and kind of scratching that first half,” Markowski said. “I think a big thing was we had one assist to 10 turnovers in that first half which is not like us. And then we hit that reset button and we had one turnover to 14 assists (in the second half). So I think that was what really changed.”
“The difference in the second half was we were taking better shots and going inside-out,” Weidner added.
Weidner made Nebraska’s first shot of the second half and two minutes later, Maddie Krull knocked down a three, giving Nebraska its first lead of the night at 20-18. Annika Stewart extended the lead to five 25 seconds later with another three and Nebraska found itself on a 6-0 run.
Weidner added three free throws to make it a 9-0 run and Markowski tacked on a three-pointer, giving Nebraska a 12-0 run and an 11-point lead at 29-18.
“(That run) was really huge and I honestly feel that Allison really sparked us with her ball pressure in the pirate position getting steals,” Markowski said. “That was really big and we talked about it in the locker room that we need to go on a run.”
Nebraska finished the third quarter 10-for-18 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range. Markowski and Weidner both recorded seven points while Stewart and Kendall Moriarty had six each in the third quarter alone. Weidner also had three of her team-high five steals in the quarter and the Huskers took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter at 44-33.
Nebraska’s lead grew to 23 down the stretch at 69-46 and the Huskers cruised to a 25-point win. Nebraska knocked down five three-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Huskers have made double-digit threes in three consecutive games, which is a program first.
With the win, Nebraska moves to 8-3 on the season and 5-0 at home. The win was also Nebraska’s third this week as Nebraska won at No. 20 Maryland last Sunday – 90-67 – and defeated Wisconsin on Wednesday, 82-54.
“I’ve seen them overcome quite a bit of adversity and do everything we’ve asked them to do,” Williams said. “Obviously we were all disappointed with our first-half production here today but when I look back at these last three wins and just overcoming the loss of Trinity Brady at Virginia Tech, and then the loss of Izzy Bourne, those are a couple starters going out of your starting lineup. And for our kids to just find ways to bring other kids in and step up and rise to the occasion has been pretty special.”
The Huskers will face Wyoming next Sunday – Dec. 18 – at home. Next Sunday’s tip is set for 2 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
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