MINNEAPOLIS: In a Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinal at Target Center on Saturday, Nebraska defeated Maryland 78-68 behind a season-high 30 points and nine assists from Jaz Shelley.
In the Sunday title game, Nebraska, ranked fifth (22–10), will take on the victor of Michigan and Iowa’s latter semifinal. Following an unexpected run that included an 82-61 quarterfinal victory over Ohio State, the top-seeded team, Maryland (19-13), was eliminated.
The Cornhuskers will be making their third straight trip to the title game. They defeated Iowa in 2014 after losing to Purdue in 2012.
Maryland continued to draw closer in the third quarter after falling behind by 13 points in the first half, and Bri McDaniel’s layup tied the score at 51. But Nebraska held on to the lead, leading 60–59 going into the fourth.
About eight minutes in, Jaz Shelley made her sixth 3-pointer of the game to give the Cornhuskers a 65-59 advantage. With 4 1/2 minutes remaining, the Cornhuskers increased their lead to 11 points, and with 1:25 left, a jumper by Shelley put an end to a brief comeback by the Terrapins, giving Nebraska a 74-66 lead. In the fourth quarter, she scored 11 of Nebraska’s 18 points, including a 4-for-4 performance in the last minute at the free throw line.
Shelley completed ten of sixteen shots, six of twelve from three. Alexis Markowski pulled down thirteen rebounds.
For Maryland, Shyanne Sellers scored 15, Faith Masonius scored 14, Allie Kubek scored 11, Brinae Alexander scored 10, and McDaniel scored 10.
In the first half, Shelley went 5 for 8 from 3 points. After making three consecutive three-pointers and a layup to score the final 11 points of the opening quarter, Nebraska led 25–12 at the break.
Halfway through the second quarter, the Cornhuskers led by twelve points thanks to three 3-pointers from Shelley and Jessica Petrie. Maryland had closed the margin to 32-27. At halftime, the Terrapins had pulled within 47-40 after making 10 of their 13 attempts during the stanza.
In the first half, Maryland made just one 3-pointer compared to 10 made by the Cornhuskers. Maryland made 4 of 13 from deep, while Nebraska completed 13 of 28.
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