Rapid Reaction: Nebraska’s lights-out shooting proves decisive in a 89-73 win over Northwestern

Northwestern women’s basketball (8-13, 2-8 B1G) fell 89-73 to Nebraska (16-5, 5-5 B1G) Wednesday evening at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

For NU, Grace Sullivan and Tayla Thomas led the way with 19 and 16 respectively. Caroline Lau and Casey Harter also scored in double figures for Northwestern.

For the Cornhuskers, Britt Prince paced the team with 28 points, six rebounds and six assists. Nebraska shot 52.6% from the field, 52.4% from three and 90% from the line. 

Both teams found offensive success early. Nebraska won the opening tip, and a clean pick-and-roll helped Prince find Eliza Maupin in the paint for an uncontested layup. Sullivan surpassed the 1,000 point mark with a deep two-pointer and a pair of free throws. Meanwhile, Prince kept the Huskers on top with two deep threes from the wing.

Neither squad seemed interested in long possessions over the first five minutes, but Harter and Thomas helped Northwestern keep pace with the Cornhuskers combining for three buckets early. Entering the first media timeout, the ‘Cats trailed Nebraska 12-10.

Thomas continued to positively impact the Wildcats, scoring 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe after the break. However, the Cornhuskers got to the line more often than the ‘Cats, only missing 1-of-9 free throws in the first quarter. Sullivan and Caroline Lau both had two fouls in the first quarter, and Nebraska’s Callin Hake, Maupin and Prince were usual suspects at the line.

With time running down in the first quarter, Prince fed a behind the back pass to Hake who banked-in a trey from the wing to extend Nebraska’s lead. Things only worsened for the ‘Cats. With three seconds to play, Maupin found Logan Nissley on a fastbreak opportunity, and Nissley heaved the ball from half court to close out the period 28-17 for the ‘Huskers.

Trailing by 11 to start the second quarter, Sullivan drew a shooting foul and went 1-of-2 from the line. Nebraska continued its early game dominance, as Nissley and Hake each scored their second threes. The Cornhuskers’ control was not limited to the arc, as Prince found Petra Bozan driving in the paint for an easy layup. Sensing that the game was getting out of hand with his squad down 36-18, Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown called a timeout.

Harter threw up a deep triple from the wing to staunch the bleeding for the ‘Cats. The junior also took the fight to Nebraska in the paint, floating a field goal from the paint moments later. Sullivan built off her teammate’s momentum, scoring a jumper in the post to cut the deficit to 11 with 5:49 in the half.

It was not smooth sailing for Northwestern, as Lau and Sullivan each picked up their third fouls. The ‘Cats went to the bench, and Kat Righeimer proved her worth immediately with a highly contested triple from the wing. Husker Amiah Hargrove responded with her own triple.

As Nebraska continued to apply pressure from all parts of the court, Xamiya Walton ran the offense for Northwestern. The sophomore drove into the paint for a layup and followed up with a trey. With 15 seconds in the half, Walton stole the ball and Tayla Thomas scored the final points of the half on that fastbreak. With 20 minutes gone, Nebraska led 47-36.

At the half, Thomas led Northwestern with 10 points and three rebounds while Sullivan and Harter each added nine points. The Huskers had dominated from deep, going 7-of-9 from three compared to Northwestern’s 3-of-11. Over the final 7:39 of the half, Northwestern outscored Nebraska 18-11.

The ‘Huskers started the third quarter with possession, but the ‘Cats defense stood tall early. Walton and Hake traded wide open treys, and Harter scored her fifth field goal before NU took a timeout.

Prince and Hargrove tallied deep shots for Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers again displayed their complete offensive gameplan, as Prince made back-to-back free throws and Maupin added a score from the key. Not to be forgotten, Sullivan and Lau turned up the heat for the ‘Cats, scoring consecutive contested layups. Down 59-47 halfway through the quarter, Lau drove through the paint for another score, shrinking the lead to 10.

Scoring slowed down for both teams, but Sullivan broke a 2:12 scoring drought for both teams with a free throw. Maupin followed up with two from the charity stripe, and Nissley made a pair of threes with 36 seconds to stretch the difference to 14. Thomas scored twice from the free throw line for the ‘Cats, but Prince ended the period with a final layup. Nebraska entered the fourth up 69-55.

With 8:50 to go in the game, Sullivan picked up her fourth foul and Prince took advantage of Northwestern’s weakened defensive resources with a pair of field goals. Thomas continued her prolific night on the other side of the court with a fadeaway rebound and-1 play. Still, the lead grew for the Huskers as they went to the bench.

Claire Johnson scored a contested layup for Nebraska, but Lau banked-in a triple from deep to momentarily quiet the Cornhusker crowd. With three minutes remaining, Prince found the net yet again to put her over 20 points on the evening. Walton found Thomas moments later for a tough bucket.

Nebraska began to suffer the consequences of attrition as Maupin and Bozan both fouled out of the contest. Foul trouble was inconsequential for the game’s outcome, however, as Northwestern called a timeout down 85-70 with 1:40 in the game. Harter refused to give up, as Lau found the junior for her second three of the night.

In fitting fashion, Prince scored four points in the final minute to put the game away 89-73 for Nebraska’s eighth straight win over Northwestern.

The ‘Cats will be back in action on Sunday when they take on the Hoosiers in Bloomington at 1:00pm.