Story by NU Athletic Communication
Indianapolis - Alexis Markowski led a complete team effort by Nebraska, as the Huskers rolled to an 84-60 win over Rutgers in the first round of the TIAA Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.
Nebraska, the tournament's No. 10 seed, improved to 20-10 (10-8 Big Ten) on the season with its third victory in the last four games, while ending No. 15 seed Rutgers' season at 11-19 overall and 3-15 in the Big Ten. The victory by the Huskers secured their third 20-win season in the last four years and 20th 20-win season in program history.
Nebraska will advance to Thursday's second round to face No. 7 seed Illinois at 5:30 p.m. (CT) in a game televised live by the Big Ten Network. Nebraska's game with the Fighting Illini also can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network, including Huskers.com.
Markowski, a four-time All-Big Ten center from Lincoln, notched her 12th double-double of the season and 52nd of her career with team highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of work, as Nebraska led from nearly start to finish.
Freshman Amiah Hargrove added a career-high-tying 13 points to go along with four rebounds off the bench, while senior guard Alberte Rimdal contributed 12 points and a career-high-tying eight assists. Hargrove and Rimdal, who combined to go 9-for-18 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, combined for 25 of Nebraska's 38 bench points in the contest.
Big Ten All-Freshman selection Britt Prince rounded out four Huskers in double figures with 10 points and five assists, while fellow freshman Petra Bozan added nine points and three boards behind Markowski inside.
As a team, Nebraska drained 13-of-31 three-pointers (.419) on its way to 55 percent (33-60) shooting overall from the field. It marked the most three-pointers the Huskers have hit in the all-time series with Rutgers, fueling the first scoring performance of more than 70 points by the Big Red in the series with the Scarlet Knights.
The Huskers held Rutgers to just 60 points, including 37 through the first three quarters, on 35.6 percent (21-59) shooting, including 5-of-17 threes (.294). Nebraska also won the rebounding battle, 38-30, while matching the Scarlet Knights with 14 turnovers.
Markowski put up a big first half with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting including a pair of three-pointers, while adding seven rebounds to power Nebraska to a 39-24 halftime lead. The Huskers drained eight threes in the first half, including a pair from Rimdal, to surge to lead.
Eight Huskers scored in the first half, as Nebraska hit 14-of-29 shots from the field. NU matched Rutgers on the glass in the half, while winning the first-half turnover battle, 9-8.
Nebraska held Rutgers to 9-for-32 (.281) shooting, including just 2-of-9 three-pointers.
Nebraska jumped to a quick 6-0 lead to force a Rutgers timeout just over 90 seconds into the game, before the Scarlet Knights responded to take a 9-8 lead with 3:30 left in the quarter
Then the Huskers responded with a major flurry of their own, beginning with a Rimdal three-pointer with 3:09 left. After a Rutgers basket, Markowski and Prince drained back-to-back threes before a layup by Markowski and a three-pointer by Hargrove capped an 11-0 Big Red run to give Nebraska its first double-digit lead at 22-11 with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
Mya Petticord sank a jumper at the buzzer to stop the run and send the teams to the second quarter with Nebraska leading 22-13.
The second period started slow for both teams before Logan Nissley drained another three-pointer. Nissley finished with six points, four rebounds and four assists in a solid effort on the night. Rimdal added her second three before a layup by Callin Hake and a three-pointer by Bozan pushed Nebraska's lead to 34-17 with 3:06 left in the first half.
Markowski scored Nebraska's last five points of the half to send the Huskers to halftime with a 39-24 lead. The Huskers outscored Rutgers 22-13 again in the third quarter to take a 61-37 lead to the fourth before taking their biggest lead of the game at 84-56 on Hargrove's final three-pointer with 1:56 left.