Nebraska will try to slow down one of the best stories in the Big Ten women’s basketball this season during its game at Illinois on Wednesday.
The Huskers are also trying to get some much-needed momentum amid a four-game losing streak.
Illinois suddenly has a good team, one year after finishing last in the Big Ten standings. Losing had been a regular occurrence, with the program going 7-77 in league games over the previous five seasons.
Last spring Illinois hired coach Shauna Green away from Dayton with a starting salary of $800,000, and the school has already got one special season.
This week, the Illini (20-7) are back in the rankings at No. 25 and sit tied for fifth in the strong Big Ten with a 10-6 record. Illinois has 20 wins for the first time in 14 years.
Illinois will be Nebraska’s 12th game against a ranked team, which is already a program record. Nebraska is 2-9 in those games.
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Illinois beat Nebraska 72-64 two weeks ago in a game the Huskers let slip away. With two minutes left in the third quarter, Nebraska had a 10-point lead and was in position for one of its best Big Ten wins of the season. Then Illinois stunned the Huskers with a 20-0 run to rally for the win at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska’s current four-game losing streak has come against two ranked teams (No. 7 Iowa and No. 12 Michigan), and two teams not ranked at the time (Illinois and Minnesota).
Nebraska (14-13, 6-10 Big Ten) knows in order to get its season back on track it needs to play better defense, after giving up 95 points against Minnesota and 80 to Iowa.
During the Big Ten season, the Huskers rank seventh in the league in defense (70.5 per game).
“I think we just need to take care on the defensive end, and lock into scout,” Nebraska point guard Jaz Shelley said. “It’s kind of like a focus thing. We have to be locked in for 40 minutes, and against anyone in the Big Ten, you have to be able to play 40 minutes to be able to beat anyone. It starts on that end, and then we got to knock down shots. That’s the other big part.”
Nebraska’s shooting, especially on three-pointers, hasn’t been very consistent, which makes not having so many defensive breakdowns even more important.
“If you’re not shooting well you have to be able to stop people on the other end,” Shelley said. “So I think that’s where we have to get better.”
Special feeling: Nebraska had its largest crowd ever for a women’s basketball game last Saturday with 14,289 spectators against Iowa.
It felt different for the players, with fans packed in the lower section and stretching all the way to the third level of the arena.
And while some fans were there to watch Iowa and star guard Caitlin Clark, the Nebraska fans were really into it when the game was tied late in the first half.
For the Nebraska players, it was a feeling they hope to experience again. Maybe crowds of 8,000 or 9,000 can occur several times each season.
“Who wouldn’t want to play in front of that many fans,” Nebraska center Alexis Markowski said. “And not just once, but the whole year. I feel like we do get pretty good crowds, and not just against Iowa, but other programs and other teams. I think women’s basketball is just growing, especially in Lincoln and Omaha. And I hope it continues to grow, and fans continue to support this program and get behind us, because there is something special growing here.”
Nebraska (14-13, 6-10 Big Ten); ppg
G – Jaz Shelley 5-9 Jr. 13.7
G – Maddie Krull 5-9 So. 5.9
G – Sam Haiby 5-9 Sr. 9.9
F – Isabelle Bourne 6-2 Jr. 12.2
C – Alexis Markowski 6-3 So. 12.4
Illinois (20-7, 10-6); ppg.
G — Genesis Bryant 5-6 Jr. 15.0
G — Makira Cook 5-6 Jr. 18.4
G — Adalia McKenzie 5-10 So. 14.0
F — Brynn Shoup-Hill 6-3 So. 6.3
F — Kendall Bostic 6-2 Jr. 10.7
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner.
