The Wildcats’ season comes to an end in a defensive collapse.
NU’s season is officially over.
Northwestern (9-20, 2-16 B1G) lost to Nebraska (19-10, 10-8 B1G) on Senior Day Sunday afternoon in an offensive battle. With the loss, the Wildcats’ season has officially concluded. The Cornhuskers led by as many as 25 points, and scored at least 24 points in all but one quarter.
For Northwestern, Caileigh Walsh led the way with 22 points, a season-high for the senior. Melannie Daley added 15 points, while Taylor Williams contributed 11. Williams led the team with seven rebounds, and Daley recorded four of her own in addition to a team-high six assists.
As for Nebraska, Alexis Markowski led the way with a dominant performance worthy of an All-Big Ten player. Markowski scored 30 points on 13-for-19 shooting and added three blocks and eight rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end. Britt Prince ran the offense beautifully with 15 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Alberte Rimdal added 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range.
After Northwestern won the tip, Nebraska got on the board first off a three-point play from Markowski. Following an intentional foul called on Williams, Prince extended the lead to five off a pair of free throws. The teams traded buckets over the next couple of minutes, with a pair of layups by Daley and Walsh making the score 8-7 in favor of the Cornhuskers with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
The ‘Cats then tied the game at 11 off another Walsh layup and a fast break by Williams that ended with her nailing both free throws. Nebraska responded quickly, however, capping a 12-2 scoring run with a pair of threes by Rimdal to give the Huskers a 23-13 advantage. The flurry forced Joe McKeown to call a timeout with 2:45 to go in the opening quarter.
Coming out of the timeout, Grace Sullivan made a contested jumper in the paint to end Nebraska’s scoring run. However, NU had few answers for Markowski, who made a pair of layups to keep Nebraska’s lead in the double digits. After Williams tipped in a second chance layup for Northwestern, Prince drilled a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to put the Cornhuskers ahead 31-18 one quarter in.
Northwestern struck first in the second quarter off a Williams layup, but Rimdal swished her third trey of the game to silence the Wildcat crowd. From there, a pair of threes by Jessica Petrie and another Markowski layup made the score 42-23 with 6:48 left in the half.
Layups from Daley and Sullivan allowed the ‘Cats to cut into Nebraska’s lead a little bit, and the teams would exchange baskets over the next couple of minutes to make the score 48-32 before a media timeout with 3:20 to play. While Northwestern’s offense had found a groove, the Cornhuskers’ offense had a response for every run.
Nebraska continued to pile it on following the timeout, with Amiah Hargrove making a layup before drilling a three pointer to balloon the Huskers’ lead to a game-high 23. Walsh closed out the half with a run of her own, scoring six consecutive points for the ‘Cats to make it 55-38 heading into the break.
At the half, Walsh led Northwestern with 12 points, with Williams and Caroline Lau each adding seven of their own. Williams led the way with six rebounds, and Daley added four assists. The Wildcats shot 41.2% from the field in the first half, but lost the rebounding battle 20-14 and only attempted three three pointers.
Nebraska unleashed an offensive onslaught in the first half, shooting 61.3% from the field and 63.6% from the three point line. Markowski led the way with 18 points and five rebounds. Rimdal added 11 points of her own, going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Prince finished the half with eight points and a team-leading five assists, followed by Caitlin Hake’s four.
Markowski picked up right where she left off to start the second half, tipping in a second-chance layup. Daley responded with a layup of her own, but a three pointer by Prince boosted Nebraska’s lead back up to 20. The teams exchanged a pair of buckets before both squads went cold. A media timeout with 4:22 left in the third quarter put an end to over a minute of scoreless play, with Nebraska on top 64-46.
The teams remained ice cold following the break, with the only scores coming from free throws by Prince and Kyla Jones before Rimdal knocked down a three, her fourth of the game, with 2:32 left. Following a layup by Sullivan, McKeown called timeout with the Huskers maintaining a 20-point lead.
Markowski continued to pile on the score for Nebraska with consecutive layups after the timeout. However, Northwestern responded with four points of its own off of two made free throws by Walsh and a layup by Lau. Daley added another layup just before the buzzer to make it a 73-55 game with one quarter to go.
The ‘Cats continued their run into the fourth quarter thanks to another pair of layups by Walsh. Daley sank a pair of free throws to cut Nebraska’s lead to 14, but Markowski answered with a layup that brought her to 30 points on the day. The teams went back and forth after that until Prince and Petrie both made shots to put Nebraska ahead 23.
Northwestern kept on fighting, with Walsh making two more layups to bring her scoring total to a season-high 22 points. However, with under three minutes to go, Nebraska’s lead proved to be insurmountable. Nebraska would come away with a 98-77 victory in Evanston.
With the loss today, Northwestern is officially eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention, and its season is over. The Wildcats finish the year with a 9-20 overall record and a 2-16 record in conference play. This now marks the third season in a row in which Northwestern has tallied only nine wins.