Nebraska women’s basketball improved to 17-11 after a 66-65 win over Washington (19-9) on the road.
Before the two teams’ meeting this past Sunday afternoon, the Huskers had been on a six-game losing streak while the Huskies came off an 82-67 loss to No. 2 UCLA. Washington was ranked for a few weeks before this matchup, but it fell out of the top 25 after coming up short against multiple ranked Big Ten opponents.
As for Nebraska, it was noticeable that the team had shifted from being the same squad that started the year off 11-0, but this win snapped its losing streak that had stretched to Feb. 1, and ultimately kept it in the conversation for what might have to be an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
Sunday’s matchup gave the Huskies a chance to lock up a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament with a win, but instead it was the Huskers who emerged with a new secured goal, earning their first Quad 1 win of the season.
In the first quarter, Nebraska had nine points off of six Washington turnovers, ultimately holding on to the lead for the entirety of the first two frames. The Huskies fell behind by a few scores early on, which got to 12 points at one point, but freshman forward Brynn McGaughy and sophomore guard Avery Howell tallied eight points each to pull the game back within one possession right before halftime.
Thanks to ten points from sophomore guard Britt Prince and eight from sophomore forward Amiah Hargrove, the Huskers went into halftime up 35-32.
The second half started with three lead changes, with the first one coming not even 50 seconds into the third quarter. Junior guard Sayvia Sellers had seven critical points in the third quarter that allowed Washington to keep its lead heading into the fourth quarter.
At the halfway point of the fourth, the Huskies had 17 second-chance points off of 15 offensive rebounds. Most of this offensive resurgence came from senior guard Hannah Stines, who despite not leading the team in points, was on watch for a triple-double with plenty of time left in regulation. She finished the game with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
As for Nebraska, Prince and Hargrove continued to lead the offense throughout the second half. Something that helped was the fact that Washington ended the game with 17 turnovers. The Huskers kept things close despite losing their lead, and a 3-pointer by Prince in the last minute gave them their first lead since the very beginning of the third quarter.
Nebraska was up 66-65 with seven seconds left, and the score stayed at just that despite Washington getting three second-chance looks following a designed mid-range shot with so little time left.
Prince was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, and this game was without a doubt one of her best performances this season. She had nine points in the fourth quarter and secured a much-needed win for a team that has been hungry for success lately.
Nebraska returns to action this Saturday at 1 p.m. CT against Rutgers for its senior day, closing out what has been a rollercoaster of a regular season.