Huskers.com
Champaign, Ill. – Nebraska led 31-30 at halftime, but home-standing Illinois took control in the third quarter and held on for a 77-68 win over the Husker women’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the State Farm Center.
Nebraska slipped to 17-9 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten, while Illinois notched its eighth consecutive victory to improve to 21-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference.
Alexis Markowski tied her career high with 28 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to help the Huskers stay within three points of the Illini at 63-60 with three minutes left in the game. Markowski had 17 in the second half, including NU’s first nine points in the opening 2:30 of the fourth quarter.
Illinois answered with a huge second half from Adalia McKenzie, who had 17 of her team-high 23 points after halftime including a three-point play with 2:35 left to put Illinois back up by six. Another three-point play for McKenzie just over a minute later extended the Illini lead to nine points at 71-62. McKenzie added eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals on the day.
The Huskers refused to quit but could not overcome the execution and free throw shooting of the Illini down the stretch.
Nine different Huskers scored in the game, but Markowski was the only player in double figures for Nebraska. The 6-3 center also grabbed eight rebounds in a strong performance. Britt Prince added nine points and matched her career high for the second straight game with eight assists, but she was injured in the closing minutes when she landed on McKenzie’s foot on a late three-point attempt.
Alberte Rimdal managed seven points off the bench, while Jessica Petrie contributed five points and a team-high nine rebounds. Logan Nissley and Kendall Coley both contributed five points, while Amiah Hargrove added four points and six rebounds off the bench.
Kendall Bostic helped Illinois to victory with 19 points and 11 rebounds for her 51st career double-double, while Berry Wallace added 15 big points off the bench in place of injured starter Jasmine Brown-Hagger who left the game late in the first quarter with a leg injury.
Genesis Bryant managed 12 points and four assists while helping Illinois seal the win at the line down the stretch.
For the game, Nebraska hit 25-of-63 shots from field (.397), including 6-of-18 three-pointers (.333), but Illinois held the Huskers down from long range in the second half, as Rimdal hit NU’s only shot from beyond the arc with 16 seconds left. The Huskers were 12-for-16 at the free throw line and won the rebounding battle, 40-38, but Illinois took the turnover margin 10-7.
Illinois hit 28-of-62 shots (.452), including 6-of-17 threes, while going 15-of-22 at the free throw line.
In a back and forth first half, Nebraska fought to a 31-30 halftime lead thanks to a late three-pointer from Coley. It was NU’s fifth three-pointer of the half and it capped a 5-0 run to end the period after Illinois had matched its biggest lead of the half at 30-26 with a 10-0 run.
The Huskers, who led 16-13 at the end of the first quarter, claimed their biggest margin of the half at 26-20 after a three-pointer from Nissley with 5:14 left in the half, before NU went more than four minutes without scoring during the Illini run.
Markowski led the Huskers in the first half with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Nissley and Prince each added five first-half points. Wallace led the Illini with 10 points off the bench, including a pair of three-pointers. Bostic added seven points for Illinois but missed much of the second quarter with foul trouble.
Nebraska hit just 11-of-31 shots from the field, but connected on 5-of-11 threes and all four of its free throws with all four coming from Markowski. The Huskers held Illinois to 11-for-32 shooting, including 4-of-11 threes, while Illinois hit 4-of-6 free throws. The Big Red out-rebounded Illinois, 21-20, but lost the first-half turnover battle, 6-3.
The Huskers return to Pinnacle Bank Arena for their final home stand of the season beginning with Oregon on Wednesday night. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Ducks in their first-ever trip to Lincoln is set for 7 p.m. with tickets available now at Huskers.com. A live video stream of the game will be available to B1G+ subscribers, while live audio coverage will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network, including Huskers.com.