B1G Game 16: Gophers Visit Nebraska (2-20-22)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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MAKING HER MARKOWSKI

In the run up to the first Gopher (5-10) Nebraska (8-7) meeting on December 6th, the Huskers worked a weak non-conference schedule to full advantage going 8-0. Then they took care of business in Minneapolis 70-67 in a battle between two evenly matched teams. After Nebraska jumped to a 13-point first half lead, a second half rally saw the Gophers move in front 61-57 with 4:34 remaining. Unfortunately, Sam Haiby took over. The Junior guard not only scored 8 of the Huskers final 13 points, she added 2 rebounds and a steal. Minnesota had a Big Ten opening defeat and the another of its would’ve/should’ve losses.

The Huskers starters were Jaz Shelley who scored 15, Bella Cravens 15, Sam Haiby 13, Isabelle Bourne 10 and Ashley Scoggins 7. The Gophers starters were Kadi Sissoko with 25 points, Sara Scalia 20, Deja Winters 5, Gadiva Hubbard 2 and Bailey Helgren 0.

Sissoko’s 25 points and 6 rebounds in 32 minutes was a high point which gave us false hope. The decline has been steady. Sissoko has gone from starter to reserve. Her outing against Northwestern produced 2 points and 0 rebounds and she finished the Rutgers game with 8 points and 2 rebounds.

There were also a couple of names missing from the starting lineup. For the Gophers, Jasmine Powell sat out the game with an injury to her right ankle. For Nebraska, Alexis Markowski came off the bench with 4 points in 11 minutes. Powell has since portaled away to a new hoop dream. Markowski has become a freshman sensation.

After the Minnesota game, Markowski began making some serious noise. She had double doubles against Indiana State (17 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes) and Drake (15 points and 10 rebounds in 16). Off the bench, she brought some serious energy to the post position.

A short stint versus Wyoming (3 points and 6 rebounds in 12 minutes) was followed by an 11 point and 6 rebound in 13 minutes performance in a 69-72 loss (Nebraska’s first) to Michigan State. Ho-hum. And then things blew up.

An ankle injury to Bella Cravens led to head coach Amy Williams inserting Markowski into the starting lineup against mighty Michigan. Nebraska got its signature win and found its post player. The Huskers 79-58 victory was paced by Markowski’s 20 points and 7 rebounds. She also added a block and two steals and iced the cake by going 1-1 from three. Luck or plan? It really makes no difference now.

The Huskers certainly haven’t had second thoughts. Markowski is the Nebraska’s leading scorer in conference games. Her best effort may have come against Ohio State with 23 points and 15 rebounds in 24 minutes. She’s not afraid of the big stage and is dominating the Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards.

She is 12th in conference scoring with 15.5 points per game, 7th in rebounding at 8.3 and 5th in field goal percentage at .554. Markowski gets some help from outside the arc. As a team the Huskers, 7.7 threes per game, are just behind Minnesota, 8.1 threes per game. It must be mentioned that Markowski is 12-22 from behind the arc which gives her the teams best three-point shooting average. Fortunately, you can hope for foul trouble. While she hasn’t fouled out, she has been whistled for 4 fouls in 6 Big Ten games. Minnesota must bring some rugged inside D.

The good news for Minnesota is that the Huskers are a .500 team with a couple of good conference wins. They also took a bad loss last night in Happy Valley.

Nebraska was cruising along with a double-digit lead when a Markowski three-point play extended their advantage to 68-55 with 7:35 remaining in the game. A minute and 21 seconds later a 15-0 Penn State run gave the Lady Lions a two-point lead. Penn State’s rally turned into an PSU 83-76 victory. It was a stunning turnaround fueled by the Lady Lion zone and pressure defense.

Markowski finished the game with 23 points and 7 rebounds. The other Husker starters were. Isabelle Bourne with 15 points, Sam Haiby 11, Jaz Shelley 10 and Allison Weidner 7. Of note: Bella Cravens came off the bench for 10 points. Yes, six Huskers accounted for all the scoring.

Certainly, the Huskers are spoiling for a fight on their home court. Nevertheless, the Lady Lions demonstrated to Minnesota how to complete a late game comeback eliminating the all too familiar would’ve/should’ve. And the Huskers demonstrated that you can develop a post player during the season.



NEBRASKA RECORD B1G Record: (8-7):

Wins: @ Minnesota 70-67, Michigan 79-58, Wisconsin 77-44, Purdue 81-66, Rutgers 50-38, Penn State 76-61, @ Illinois 82-63, Indiana 72-55

Losses: @Michigan State 69-72, Iowa 86-95, @ Indiana 65-72, @ Iowa 83-93, @ Maryland 65-80, @ Ohio State 70-80, @ Penn State 76-83


Alexis Markowski Last Big Ten Six Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Penn State1841273
Maryland8121244
Ohio State23151244
Illinois971234
Indiana10151302
Penn State2370311


Sam Haiby Last Six Big Ten Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Penn State745302
Maryland612251
Ohio State233202
Illinois1085350
Indiana1444322
Penn State1156363


Probable Starters With Big Ten Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
6’3”C/FFrAlexis Markowski23.615.98.3
5’9”GJrSam Haiby27.911.14.6
5’9”GSoJaz Shelley33.110.77.4
6’2”FSoIsabelle Bourne25.710.34.9
5’7”GSoAshley Scoggins27.97.92.2


Others With Big Ten Stats:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’10”GFrAllison Weidner18.07.43.3
6’3”FJrBella Cravens18.45.84.8
6’3”FFrAnnika Stewart9.73.51.9
6’2”F/GFrKendall Coley9.81.10.9
5’10”GFrRuby Porter9.11.80.9
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25 points & 6 for Kadi.. Its amazing the decline in production, although this game can humble you. The one thing I would say though, is foul trouble every game hurt her mental state, she started to doubt she was a good player, potentially great.. This is probably a more experienced coaching staff could of helped, nobody knows the real story.
 

I was hoping that the Post-Powell team was improving and on a big roll. After their play in the Rutgers game, I am uncertain and less excited about the Nebraska game.
 

theindependent.com

Nebraska women's basketball associate head coach suspended; Scoggin no longer on roster

Soon after the Huskers announced Chuck Love's suspension, guard Ashley Scoggin was removed from the team's official online roster.
theindependent.com theindependent.com

Nebraska's associate head coach Chuck Love has been suspended with pay.

Nebraska women’s basketball associate head coach Chuck Love has been suspended, the Nebraska Athletic Department announced in a statement on Saturday.

The statement said Love has been suspended with pay effective immediately and there will be no additional comment at this time.
Nebraska has three games remaining in the regular season, followed by the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers are also projected by ESPN to make the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers host Minnesota on Sunday afternoon.

Love, who was not on the bench during the Huskers' loss to Penn State on Thursday, has been with coach Amy Williams at Nebraska all six seasons and 10 years overall. He was promoted to associate head coach last summer.

Williams’ coaching staff has been the same in each of her six seasons at Nebraska. Assistant coaches Tom Goehle, Tandem Mays and Love were each on Williams’ staff at South Dakota and came with her to Lincoln when she became head coach in 2016.

Video coordinator Logan Seiser has been on the bench at games and may take on added responsibilities. He’s previously been an assistant coach at Jamestown and was on the staff with the Iowa State women’s program.
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41-34 Huskers at the half. Scalia with 16. She was having a driving contest with Haiby for a while. LBK with three fouls. Cayton downed back to back threes late extending Nebraska's half time margin.

Gophers doing a good job on Markowski. So far.
 

LBK playing well, but her PT and her aggressive limited by early fouls. Sissoko and Rose also with a couple of fouls. Watching on BTN-Plus. Nice to finally have opposing broadcasters who know how to pronounce Scalia's last name.
 




We’ve now become a one trick pony, no inside game, easy to defend.
 

If the Gophers are going to sign any interior players from the transfer portal this off-season, I hope they can get some players that can actually shoot.
 





71-47. At the end of the quarter Nebraska was driving the length of the court unchallenged.
 


I hope we can find an offense next year that moves more. There’s too many people just standing around.
 


If your "point guard" comes down the floor looking to shoot almost every time, there's not much reason to move around.
 


And the other problem with all these grad transfers is that none of the sophomores played significant minutes this year, so we’ll have a team with inexperienced juniors next year.
 

Rare appearances by Hedman and Sconiers. Right now, the Gophers are a bad basketball team.
 

After the last 2 games will be surprised if they win another one. I hope I’m wrong but body language doesn’t look good.
 

Might be my imagination, but I don't think Strande has been on the bench at the Rutgers game or this one.
 

blkroll said:
And the other problem with all these grad transfers is that none of the sophomores played significant minutes this year, so we’ll have a team with inexperienced juniors next year.
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Doesnt that say more about what the coaches think of those players? We'll likely hit the portal hard again this offseason.
 

Sara lingering on the bench for a couple of seconds staring straight ahead summed it up.
 

whalenfan said:
Doesnt that say more about what the coaches think of those players? We'll likely hit the portal hard again this offseason.
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But I would argue the 1 year “rent-a-player” method is not effective for building a program.
 

Disappointing. Hubbard and Winters missed the team bus. Poor defense. Defense needs to keep the team in a game until the offense clicks. Two bad losses. They need to keep positive or the rest of the season will be ugly. They need to find Sissoko.
 

well of the sudden if we don't want to end up playing on the 1st day of the tournament.. we are Spartan fans tomorrow when they play Penn State and then Buckeye fans when they play Penn State Thursday.. and we need to WIN Thursday again Illinois (a big IF, it seems)

Sara the only one to really show up for the game.. Kadi looked her best in awhile but not enough..

Winters/ Hubbard 7 total shots..

no energy on the defensive end again.. no hustle, not contesting shots..
 

blkroll said:
And the other problem with all these grad transfers is that none of the sophomores played significant minutes this year, so we’ll have a team with inexperienced juniors next year.
Click to expand...
That's assuming those juniors don't decide to transfer themselves. I wouldn't blame them.
 


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