Maryland women’s basketball had no answer on Saturday for Jaz Shelley. She torched the Terps all game long, and stuck the dagger in their Big Ten Tournament run after a strong defensive possession in the final two minutes.
Shelly’s dominant performance — a season high 30 points — was too much to overcome for No. 8-seed Maryland. The Terps fell to No. 5-seed Nebraska, 78-68, in the Big Ten semifinals in Minneapolis. Nebraska advanced to the Big Ten championship game for the first time since 2014, and became the first fifth seed to advance to the championship since 2022.
The Terps couldn’t stop the Cornhuskers’ 3-point shooting throughout the game, with the damage coming early. Shelley hit three consecutive 3-pointers to close out the first quarter as Nebraska built a 13-point lead after the first quarter on Shelley’s 11-0 personal run.
Maryland has trailed entering the second quarter in all three of its Big Ten Tournament games, but once again it closed the gap with a 6-0 run. Yet the Cornhuskers remained hot from beyond the arc, hitting three 3-pointers that grew their lead back to double digits. They ended the first half with 10 makes from beyond the arc.
Nebraska’s excellence from deep paired with its early rebounding advantage to enter halftime up 47-40. Maryland had been a force on the glass in Minneapolis entering the day, using extra possessions to fuel its comebacks.
Faith Masonius remained an X-factor against Nebraska, finding lanes to the basket on her way to 10 first-half points.
Shyanne Sellers continued her dominance from Friday’s second half into the first half on Saturday, going toe-to-toe with Shelley. Sellers hit shot after shot in the paint and played unselfishly en route to 13 points and six assists at halftime.
Sellers’ excellent first two quarters helped Maryland’s deficit stay under double digits at the break. The Terps bullied the Cornhuskers in the paint to a 24-12 advantage — helped out by Sellers — that kept Maryland close.
Brinae Alexander starred for the Terps in the third quarter. She got looks from beyond the arc late in the frame and she drilled them both. Alexander ended the frame a perfect 3-3 from the field for eight points, pacing Maryland’s offense in the period.
The Terps built off their excellent job in the first half going to the free throw line — making seven of 10 looks — with another three makes from the stripe in the third quarter to help trim the deficit.
But Shelley showcased her high basketball IQ in the second half to keep Nebraska ahead by one entering the fourth quarter, dishing out five assists in the third frame alone.
Maryland never got closer than its one-point deficit. The Terps couldn’t seize a lead, mustering just two points midway through the fourth quarter while committing four turnovers.
“I feel like we just didn’t make a shot when we needed to push over that hump,” Sellers said. “If we would have grabbed that lead we probably would have never looked back.”
Nebraska found its stroke from beyond the arc again in the final frame, hitting two clutch threes down the stretch. Bri McDaniel was limited with foul trouble — picking up her fifth foul with 4:50 left in the game — which ultimately hampered Maryland as its limited rotation took a hit.
The Terps’ offense ultimately went cold in the fourth quarter, connecting on just 21.4 percent of their shots in the period — costing them the potential win.
