Huskers.com
West Lafayette, Ind. – Freshman Britt Prince scored 11 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter to help Nebraska escape from Mackey Arena with a 74-68 women’s basketball win over Purdue on Thursday night.
The 5-11 point guard from Omaha finished 7-of-15 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line to secure Nebraska’s third consecutive Big Ten road victory to improve to 16-5 overall and 7-3 in the conference. The Boilermakers slipped to 7-14 overall and 0-10 in the league.
Prince, who scored Nebraska’s final nine points in the game, converted a crucial three-point play to push the Husker lead to 72-66 with 1:38 left. She also sank a pair of free throws with 3.7 seconds left to end Purdue’s hopes of its first conference victory.
Senior center Alexis Markowski added 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting and a 6-of-7 effort at the free throw line. Markowski, who was battling illness, drew six fouls on the Boilermakers. While she managed just two rebounds, she added two assists and two steals for the Big Red.
Senior guard Alberte Rimdal led the Huskers off the bench with an impressive 11-point effort, while adding two rebounds and three steals. Rimdal’s second-half defense was crucial in helping NU overcome a 39-36 halftime deficit.
Sophomore forward Jessica Petrie pitched in a huge second half with six points and five rebounds to finish the night with eight points and a team-high six boards. Fellow sophomore Logan Nissley contributed five points, five rebounds and a team-leading four assists, while Kendall Moriarty added five points of her own off the bench to benefit the Big Red.
Nothing came easy for the Big Red on the night, as the Huskers went just 2-for-13 from three-point range, going 0-for-9 from beyond the arc after hitting 2-of-5 shots in the first quarter. Nebraska did connect on 27-of-61 field goal attempts (.443), while sinking a sizzling 18-of-19 free throws (.947). The Huskers lost the rebounding battle, 29-28, but the Big Red won the turnover war, 21-11, and outscored the Boilers 29-5 off turnovers.
Rashunda Jones led Purdue with 20 points and four assists while hitting 10-of-10 free throws, while McKenna Layden added a career-high 12 points on a career-best 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Destini Lombard and Sophie Swanson both pitched in 11 points to put four Boilers in double figures.
For the game, Purdue hit 9-of-20 threes, while finishing 50 percent (24-48) from the floor and a strong 11-of-12 at the free throw line.
Nebraska continues its two-game road trip to Indiana by taking on the Hoosiers Sunday in Bloomington. Tip-off with Indiana is set for 11 a.m. (CT) with live television coverage from FS1. Fans can also listen across the Huskers Radio Network stations and on Huskers.com.