No. 25 Huskers Hold Off Hoosiers, 78-73
Lincoln - Britt Prince scored 11 of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 25 Nebraska hold off Indiana in a 78-73 women's basketball win on Thursday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 14-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, while Indiana slipped to 11-6 and 0-5 in the conference.
Prince, a 5-11 sophomore point guard from Omaha, put together a fourth-quarter performance that included four assists, as she finished with a game-high seven assists against just one turnover.
Junior Jessica Petrie pitched in 18 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two assists. The 6-2 forward produced seven points in the fourth period, included the first two Husker buckets off assists from Prince after the two teams went to the final period tied at 53.
Junior guard Logan Nissley put three Huskers in double figures with 11 points, including a three-pointer with five minutes left off an assist from Prince that put the Huskers up 65-63. Prince gave NU the lead for good 35 seconds later on her basket to make it 67-65.
Another bucket from Prince with 3:41 left extended the margin to 69-65, before senior guard Callin Hake sank her only three-pointer of the game with 2:56 remaining to extend NU's margin to 72-65 and cap a decisive 10-2 surge by the Big Red.
Senior forward Eliza Maupin contributed nine points, seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks, while sophomore forward Amiah Hargrove pitched in nine points and six boards. Sophomore forward Petra Bozan also had three points and six boards to help the Huskers post a 38-32 edge on the glass against the Hoosiers.
The combined efforts of the Big Red forwards allowed Nebraska to overcome the return of Zania Socka-Nguemen to the Indiana starting five for the first time in nine games. Socka-Nguemen notched a double-double with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Her inside presence gave much-needed support to senior guard Shay Ciezki, who finished with a game-high 31 points, despite going just 1-for-5 from three-point range. Ciezki went 12-for-16 on two-point shots. Ciezki had eight points in the first 5:20 of the fourth quarter, but the Huskers held her scoreless down the stretch to claim the victory. Ciezki played the full 40 minutes in the game.
Maya Makulusky scored all 12 of her points in the second half to put three Hoosiers in double figures, but Nebraska shut out Indiana's Lenee Beaumont on 0-for-7 shooting. The redshirt sophomore was IU's second-leading scorer on the season.
Nebraska finished 28-of-67 (.418) from the field on the night, but connected on 38.1 percent (8-of-21) three-pointers. NU also sank 14-of-19 free throws (.737). The Big Red also won the turnover battle 11-7, and produced an assist-to-turnover ratio of 20-7 on the night.
Indiana outshot the Huskers 29-57 (.509), but went just 4-of-13 (.308) from long range. IU also hit 11-of-13 free throws (.846).
Nebraska took a 38-30 halftime lead with seven points apiece from Petrie, Maupin and Hargrove. Prince and Nissley each contributed five first-half points.
The Huskers led 23-20 after one quarter, before extending the margin to 12 at 36-24 on five straight points from Hargrove with just under four minutes left in the half.
Nebraska hit 15-of-34 (.441) first-half shots, including 5-of-11 three-pointers (.455). NU added 3-of-5 free throw shooting and outrebounded Indiana 20-16 in the half. The Huskers also won the first-half turnover battle, 5-4.
Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 14 points in the first half, while Socka-Nguemen hit 6-of-7 first-half shots and added six rebounds.
Indiana went 13-for-29 (.448) from the field in the half, with Ciezki and Socka-Nguemen combining to hit 12-of-19 shots, while the rest of the Hoosiers went 1-for-10. The Huskers ran the Hoosiers off the three-point line, with Indiana going just 1-for-5. IU also hit 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
The Huskers rebuilt their biggest lead to 12 points two minutes into the third quarter, but a 14-1 surge by the Hoosiers in a four-minute stretch late in the third briefly put IU up 51-49 on a four-point play by Makalusky.
Nebraska returns to Big Ten home action by playing host to No. 4 UCLA on Sunday. Tip-off between the Huskers and Bruins is set for 6 p.m. (CT) with tickets available now at Huskers.com. The game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network, and live audio coverage will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network on Huskers.com and the Huskers App.