It would be justified if Amy Williams didn’t much care for the Maryland Terrapins.
Counting Thursday nights’ 87-69 loss to the Terps on the road—a second-straight defeat for the Huskers to drop them to 13-4 on the year and 3-3 in the Big Ten—Nebraska is now 0-7 against Maryland under Williams.
A tough two-game road swing that began against what was a 13-2 Rutgers team at the time of their meeting ended with a trip to College Park to battle a Terp team that entered the day 12-4 on the season and 20th in the AP poll. Guard Nicea Eliely and wing Leigha Brown each had 19 points to help lead the Huskers, but Maryland won the first quarter convincingly (26-17) and slammed the door on the Huskers in the fourth (26-14).
Nebraska actually held a 14-12 lead with 3:23 to play in the opening frame, but a 14-3 run from the Terps—spurred by six points from guard Ashley Owusu (finished with 16) and two triples from guard Diamond Miller (13 points)—put Maryland firmly in the driver’s seat after 10 minutes.
The Huskers committed 20 turnovers for the game, with 12 in the first half, just one fewer than they had made shots from the field. Maryland turned those into 17 first-half points. (They got 29 points off Nebraska turnovers for the game; Nebraska got four points off seven Maryland turnovers.)
Maryland, which saw its offense post 1.26 points per possession against what has typically been a strong Nebraska defense this season, stretched the lead as large as 13 points in the first half, but the Huskers clawed their way back into things heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a mini scoring burst from Brown.
Eleven of her 19 came over a 3:51 span late in the third, as the Huskers drew within six points heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
But a sputtering Maryland offense lately caught fire in the fourth, as the Terps hit 61% of their shots and dominated the painted area. Nebraska won the rebounding battle for the game, 37-32, but gave up 46 paint points compared to just 22 on the other end. Maryland got off 14 more shots; extra possessions loomed large in this one.
It also marked the second game in a row the Huskers’ paint protector was completely removed from the equation. In 33 minutes, center Kate Cain took one shot (a miss) and didn’t register a block. She was whistled for three fouls and turned it over once. Cain was also held scoreless against the Scarlet Knights on five shots in 25 minutes.
Nebraska will look to regroup back at home when it plays host to Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 19, at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be on BTN.
