HUSKER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: No. 22 Nebraska Rolls Past Omaha In Season Debut

LINCOLN–(NU Athletics Nov. 7)–Isabelle Bourne led five Huskers in double figures with 21 points as Nebraska rolled to the largest season-opening victory margin in school history with a 100-36 women’s basketball win over Omaha on Monday.

Playing in front of the second-largest season-opening crowd in Husker women’s basketball history with 6,233 on hand at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Nebraska buried 14 three-pointers with all 10 active Huskers sinking at least one long-range shot in the game. While the Huskers got 42 points from beyond the arc, they also got 50 points in the paint. Bourne, a 6-2 junior from Canberra, Australia, went 10-for-15 from the field, including Nebraska’s second three-pointer of the game to cap a 12-0 game-opening scoring run. Bourne added a game-high-tying nine rebounds to help lead the Big Red inside. She scored 11 of NU’s first 16 points to open the contest.

Sophomore Allison Weidner added 19 points and a career-high nine rebounds of her own. The 5-10 guard from Humphrey, Neb., hit 9-of-11 shots from the field including 1-of-2 threes, while adding three assists and a steal.

Another native Nebraskan, Maddie Krull, pitched in 18 points, including a game-high four three-pointers in her Husker debut. The 5-9 sophomore guard out of Millard South High School in Omaha, hit 7-of-9 shots from the field overall, including the final three-pointer of the game to push the Huskers to the century mark.

Sophomore Alexis Markowski produced a strong game with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting while adding eight rebounds, while fellow sophomore point Annika Stewart added 10 points and seven boards for the Big Red.

Junior guard Jaz Shelley, who hit Nebraska’s first three-pointer of the game just 2:45 into the contest to put Nebraska up 9-0, finished with just five points, but added game highs of 10 assists and four steals.

Kendall Coley also contributed five points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that put Nebraska up 28-11 at the end of the first quarter. After opening the game with a 12-0 run, the Huskers closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 44-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Huskers stormed out of the locker room with a school-record-tying 33-point third quarter to take a 77-26 margin to the final period, before outscoring the Mavs 23-10 in the fourth, including back-to-back threes from freshman Callin Hake and Krull to cap the scoring.

For the game, Nebraska hit 56.6 percent (43-76) of its shots from the field, including 14-of-34 threes (.412). However, the Huskers did not attempt a free throw in the 30th 100-point scoring game in school history. The Big Red won the rebounding battle, 49-29, and the turnover battle, 19-7. It was the first time in NU history that they reached 100 points without attempting a free throw.

Elena Pilakouta led the Mavericks with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Grace Cave contributed six points. The Huskers held Omaha to 21.2 percent (11-52) shooting from the field, including just 17.6 percent (3-17) from long range.

Nebraska returns to action at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday, when the Huskers play host to Houston Christian. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.