Nebraska WBB vs Louisville: Recap

The Nebraska women’s basketball team fell to 2-4 on the season after they lost to the Louisville Cardinals in Kentucky. While the record doesn’t look great, this Husker team looks like they have taken a step forward from the team that finished third in the Big Ten last season.

It’s just that the schedule took a step and a half forward. Three of the Huskers’ losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents (#5 Louisville, #21 Miami, and #24 Drake). The fourth loss for Nebraska was a double OT thriller at Washington State in which Nebraska rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to force extra time.

If you look at the quarter-by-quarter scoring, you can see that Nebraska didn’t get its doors blown off, they just couldn’t land as many punches as a heavyweight like Louisville (with apologies in advance for the funky way the info below is likely to look.)

By Period 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Nebraska 14 17 19 18 68
Louisville 21 19 22 23 85

Senior Maddie Simon scored 16 points while junior Hannah Whitish pitched in 15. Simon, a 6-2 forward, hit 6-of-11 shots from the floor including 2-of-4 three-pointers, while adding four rebounds and two assists for the Huskers. Whitish hit 4-of-8 shots, including 2-of-4 threes, while adding three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals for the Big Red. Freshman Sam Haiby gave the Huskers three in double figures with 12 points.

Junior Nicea Eliely added eight points while Kate Cain pitched in five points and a game-high 10 rebounds along with a game-high three blocked shots for the Big Red.

All-American and ACC Player of the Year Asia Durr led all scorers with 25 points while contributing a game-high eight assists for the Cardinals. Durr also grabbed six rebounds for Louisville, which improved to 7-0 on the season with the victory.

Turnovers loomed large as did aggressiveness on the offensive end. The Cardinals attempted 64 field goals compared to 52 for Nebraska. Louisville scored 26 points off 23 Nebraska turnovers and got nine second-chance points compared to just three for the Huskers. NU did manage 15 points off 15 U of L miscues, but in those two categories combined Louisville outscored Nebraska by 17 points in the game.

The Huskers hit 42.3 percent (22-52) of their shots from the field, including 6-of-18 threes (.333), while also hitting 18-of-24 free throws (.750). Nebraska was out-rebounded, 35-33 and lost the turnover battle 23-15.

Louisville hit a solid 51.6 percent (33-64) of its shots from the floor, including 7-of-20 threes (.350), while going 12-of-20 (.600) at the free throw line.

Nebraska got off to a solid start, taking an 11-10 lead midway through the first quarter but the Cardinals responded with an 11-3 surge, including a 6-0 run to end the quarter.

Nebraska trailed by just seven at 52-45 with 4:22 left in the third quarter after a difficult shot went in for Ashtyn Veerbeek. The Huskers were within eight points at 58-50 after a three-pointer by Taylor Kissinger with 1:24 left in the quarter, but the Cardinals scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 62-50 lead to the final period.

Louisville pushed the lead to 24 points at 81-57 with 3:30 left in the game, but the Huskers responded with a 9-0 run in the next 59 seconds to close the gap to 81-66 with 2:22 left. The run was aided by technical fouls on both Durr and Louisville Coach Jeff Walz with 3:21 left in the game.

The next game for the Huskers will be at Creighton in Omaha on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with live radio coverage at Huskers.com. A live video stream also will be at Fox Sports Go.