Huskers Struggle Late at No. 4 USC
Los Angeles - Logan Nissley led Nebraska with 14 points on four three-pointers, but the Husker women's basketball team dropped its third straight road game to a top-15 foe with a 75-55 loss at No. 4 USC at the Galen Center on Sunday afternoon.
Britt Prince added 10 points and matched a career high with eight rebounds for the Huskers, who slipped to 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. JuJu Watkins led all players with 26 points for the Trojans, who improved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Kiki Iriafen pitched in 14 points and six rebounds for USC.
Jessica Petrie contributed eight points and three rebounds for the Huskers, while Alexis Markowski added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Big Red.
For the game, Nebraska hit 20-of-58 shots (.345), including 5-of-15 three-pointers. The Huskers also went 10-for-12 at the free throw line and matched USC on the boards at 36, but the Trojans won the turnover battle, 18-11. USC hit 27-of-60 shots (.450), including 4-of-17 threes. The Trojans were 17-of-23 at the line, including an 11-of-12 effort from Watkins.
Nebraska battled shot-for-shot with the Trojans in the first half before heading to halftime down 39-34. The Huskers scored first in the game before USC built a 16-8 first-quarter lead after an 8-0 run that included six points from Watkins. The Huskers battled back to cut the margin to 16-12 after a first-quarter buzzer beater from Prince, who finished with six points, six rebounds and three assists in the opening half.
Prince scored again to open the second quarter before Petra Bozan and Nissley hit back-to-back buckets to give Nebraska a 19-18 lead and force a USC timeout with 7:32 left in the half.
After a Talia von Oelhoffen three-pointer gave the lead back to USC, Nissley answered with her second straight three and then it a pair of free throws to cap a string of eight straight points for Nissley that gave the Big Red a 24-21 lead with 5:07 left in the half.
Iriafen stopped the NU surge with a basket, but the Huskers answered quickly with back-to-back baskets by freshmen Amiah Hargrove and Prince to take their biggest lead at 28-23 with 3:34 left in the quarter.
USC then answered with a 12-2 surge that included five points from Watkins to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead before Petrie buried a three from the top of the key to cut the margin back to 35-33 with 1:14 left. Petrie added a free throw to match Nissley with a team-best eight first-half points.
The Trojans took a 39-34 lead to the half after going 16-for-33 from the field, including 3-of-9 from three-point range. USC also hit 4-of-6 free throws. Nebraska outworked USC on the boards, 18-16, but lost the first-half turnover battle, 10-5. Watkins led USC with 13 points, while Iriafen added eight points and five boards.
Nebraska hit 13-of-28 first-half shots, including 3-of-5 threes, while knocking down 5-of-6 free throws.
The Huskers fought hard in the third quarter despite cold shooting early in the period, trailing by just seven at 49-42 with 2:30 left. But a three-point play pushed the USC margin to double digits before Watkins closed the quarter by going 7-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 1:16 to take a 59-45 lead.
USC extended the run to 17-0 by opening the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run, before Nissley hit Nebraska's first field goal of the period with her three with 3:45 left. The Huskers outscored the Trojans 10-4 down the stretch with Iriafen scoring USC's final four points.
Nebraska returns home to take on Penn State on Sunday. Tip-off between the Big Red and Lady Lions is set for 2 p.m. on Alumni Day at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com and live statewide television coverage will be provided by Nebraska Public Media with a live video stream for B1G+ subscribers. Free live audio will be available on Huskers.com from the Huskers Radio Network.