Nebraska uses strong third quarter to outlast Maryland women’s basketball, 87-81

Maryland women’s basketball (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) was hoping to end 2023 on a strong note, looking to get its 10th win of the young season and move to 2-0 in conference play at Nebraska (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) Sunday.

But the Terps were unable to do so. Foul woes on their end and a domination from the Cornhuskers under the boards led to an 87-81 loss in the final game of the calendar year.

The two sides were neck and neck for most of the game, with 22 total lead changes. However, it was Nebraska that held the lead for much of the second half, one it would not look back from after the eight minute mark in the third quarter.

Foul troubles put Maryland in a hole early. Junior Shyanne Sellers had to finish out the first quarter on the bench after two early fouls. She would foul out with four minutes remaining in the game, one of three starters to foul out. In Sellers’ time playing, the Huskers had her number. The guard finished the day 1-for-7 from the field. Coach Brenda Frese thought Sellers’ poor performance spoke to the Huskers’ defensive effort.

“I thought they keyed in on her, they had two surrounding her most of the game, stopping her early in transition,” Frese said. “They guarded her really hard, made her have to take difficult shots. I thought she lost some of her poise and composure when she got into the early foul trouble, and they really did a phenomenal job keeping her out of rhythm most of the game.”

The Terps’ 26 total fouls put the Huskers at the charity stripe early and often, something they were able to take advantage of. They finished the day 23-of-26 (88.5 percent). Nebraska also took 32 shots from beyond the three point arc, hitting 10 of them.

“We were trying to take away more of the threes and live with the twos, but clearly they executed that with all of their ability to get threes off – 32 attempts – and they’re at home, they shot it extremely well,” Frese said. “They’re really good with all of their kids that can score the three as well as their inside presence with [Alexis] Markowski. So, pick your poison.”

The abundance of fouls and the eventual early exit of Sellers, the Terps’ leading scorer this season, meant they had to look elsewhere for somebody to take charge. Graduate student Lavender Briggs filled that role coming back from a five game injury absence. She finished the day with 25 points, four rebounds and two assists. 

However, it was not only foul troubles that cost the Terps. The Huskers also dominated under the boards, on both the offensive and defensive ends. Nebraska finished the day with 48 rebounds, 20 of which were offensive, compared to the Terps’ 30 total boards. Briggs felt the solution to fixing that problem is rather easy.

“Honestly, just being more disciplined and communicating with each other and boxing out,” Briggs said. “We just need to hit somebody and get the ball. It’s kind of simple, we just got to do it.”

The Terps will have to make some quick adjustments as they stay on the road. They’ll next take on Minnesota in Minneapolis at 8 p.m. on Jan 3.