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Ruby Porter will be starting in place of Bella Cravens. Cravens rolled an ankle in the previous game and may be a bit sore yet.
First Quarter
The teams traded baskets to start the game and Nebraska took a brief lead (4-2) at 8:57. It was short lived as Maryland hit their first three (there are likely to be MANY more of those). The Terrapins went on a run to extend their lead to 10 (14-4 MD).
Both teams largely traded baskets for several minutes with the Terp lead varying between nine and 14 points. Annika Stewart hit a three pointer for the final Husker points of the quarter.
Maryland 27 Nebraska 16
Second Quarter
Maryland scored first with a three pointer to extend the lead (30-16 MD). Maryland’s full court trap forced a Husker turnover and they doubled up Nebraska’s score (32-16 MD). Ruby Porter hit a three and Kate Cain basket sandwiched a Terp field goal (34-21 MD). Maryland’s defense continued to smother Nebraska and forced a shot clock violation.
I’ll sum up the quarter to this point. Maryland has scored on all but one of their possessions. There is a reason they are averaging over 90 points per game.
The media timeout was finally held at 2:35 with Maryland leading 48 to 29 for Nebraska.
The Huskers made up a little bit of ground after the timeout with baskets and free throws by Kate Cain.
Maryland 51 Nebraska 33
Ruby Porter and Kate Cain lead Nebraska with 10 points each. Issie Bourne has four rebounds and Sam Haiby has five assists but was held to two points.
Third Quarter
The Husker defense was playing much better to start the second half, but the offense was still having a hard time finding the basket. Nebraska tried hard to get Sam Haiby more involved in the offense. At 7:08, the score was 56-36 Maryland.
Nebraska followed that with a Porter three pointer, Bourne three-point play and Haiby layup to close the lead to 12 (56-44 MD) forcing a Terp timeout.
The run was extended by a Ruby Porter jumper that beat the shot clock but Maryland answered (58-46 MD) at the media timeout.
Ruby Porter again beat the shot clock with a layup but Maryland started to heat up again on offense and went on an even bigger run of their own to extend the lead to over 25 (75-48 MD). The Huskers finally broke the run with a Bourne layup (assist by Annika Stewart). As the quarter wound down, the Terrapins got a basket at the buzzer.
Maryland 77 Nebraska 50
Fourth Quarter
Sam Haiby opened scoring for the quarter (77-52 MD) but the Terps answered on their next possession (79-52 MD). Issie Bourne hit a layup (assist by Kendall Coley) which was followed by a Cain basket and Porter layup (79-58 MD) at 7:24. Timeout Terps. Ruby Porter is having a career game.
Kendall Coley blocked a Terrapin three point attempt and Cravens was fouled on the ensuing possession and made one of two free throws. The Terps broke the Husker run with a layup (81-59 MD). This is the first extended playing time for the Husker early enrollee Coley. These minutes will be valuable for a player who could still be playing for her high school team. She scored her first basket as a Husker with 3:10 left in the game.
The margin mostly stayed at 20 for a big chunk of the quarter, but the Terrapins went on a late run to extend it slightly (93-68 MD) at 1:31. Kate Cain is drawing closer to 1000 points and would have had it but missed a layup (it was a difficult angle).
Final. Maryland 95 Nebraska 73
Stats and Observations
Maryland’s women’s basketball program is just on another level than Nebraska’s. The Terrapins are a quality program that consistently signs top-10 recruiting classes full of athletes who can shoot. It is certainly no shame that this Husker team lost to the Terps but it is hard to see them drop their fourth in a row.
Ruby Porter led Nebraska with 19 points. Kate Cain and Isabelle Bourne each had 17. Bourne collected a double double with 10 rebounds while the next closest Huskers was Sam Haiby with five. Haiby also had six assists to five for Bourne and four for Ashley Scoggin. Kate Cain blocked two shots.
As a team, Nebraska shot 49% from the field (31-63) to 56% for Maryland (39-70). The Terps outrebounded Nebraska 38-30 and hit 42% of their three pointers (8-19) to only 24% for Nebraska (4-17). Maryland won the turnover battle 8 to 12 for Nebraska.
Next Game
The Huskers visit Northwestern on Wednesday February 17. Tipoff time is to be announced. Nebraska beat the then-ranked Wildcats earlier this season on a buzzer beating, reverse, no-look layup by Sam Haiby. Look for the Wildcats to be keen on evening the season series vs a reeling Husker team.