Nebraska gets ready to go to battle with Oregon State Sunday afternoon

Nebraska fought out a gritty win against Texas A&M on Saturday night. The Huskers saw a 17 point lead dwindle down and at one point lost said lead, but with a few clutch steals and some much needed free throws, NU claimed the 61-59 win.

With a rare off night from Jaz Shelley (2-11 FG) someone had to step up. That someone? Freshman guard Logan Nissley who had 16 points and went 5-9 from the field, including 4-6 from long range. Nissley also made two clutch free throws late in the game. Markowski added another 16 to be the only other Husker in double figures.

Nebraska takes on Oregon State in Corvallis in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip off is set for 3:00 pm (CT).

#6 Nebraska Cornhuskers (23-11, 11-7 Big Ten) at #3 Oregon State Beavers (25-7, 12-6 Pac-12)

Sunday, March 24, 2024, 3 p.m. (CT)/1 p.m. (PT)

Gill Coliseum - Corvallis, Oregon

Television: ESPN (Live Stream ESPN+) Jason Ross Jr. (PBP), Aja Ellison (Analyst)

Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (2:30 p.m.) Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)

B107.3 FM (Lincoln), 590 AM (Omaha), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Live Stats: Huskers.com

Nebraska Cornhuskers (23-11, 11-7 Big Ten - NCAA NET 25)

22 - Natalie Potts - 6’2 - Fr. - F/G - 10.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg

40 - Alexis Markowski - 6’3 - Jr. - C/F - 15.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg

1 - Jaz Shelley - 5’9 - Gr. - G - 13.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg

2 - Logan Nissley - 6’0 - Fr. - G - 7.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg

15 - Kendall Moriarty - 6’1 - Jr. - G - 3.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg

Off the Bench

0 - Darian White - 5’6 - Gr. - G - 6.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg

14 - Callin Hake - 5’9 - So. - G - 6.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg

12 - Jessica Petrie - 6’2 - Fr. - F - 3.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg

21 - Annika Stewart - 6’3 - Sr. - F - 3.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg

32 - Kendall Coley - 6’2 - Jr. - F - 2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg

42 - Maddie Krull - 5’9 - Gr. - G - 2.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Eighth Season at Nebraska (137-110); 17th Season Overall (330-219)

12/15 Oregon State Beavers (25-7, 12-6 Pac-12 - NCAA NET 17)

15 - Raegan Beers - 6’4 - So. - F - 17.8 ppg, 10.4 rpg

30 - Timea Gardiner - 6’3 - Fr. - F - 11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg

4 - Donovyn Hunter - 6’0 - Fr. - G - 6.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg

11 - AJ Marotte - 6’1 - Jr. - G - 5.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg

22 - Talia von Oelhoffen - 5’11 - Jr. - G - 10.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Off the Bench

3 - Dominika Paurova - 6’1 - Fr. - G - 5.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg

53 - Kelsey Rees - 6’5 - Jr. - F - 5.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg

2 - Lily Hansford - 6’2 - So. - G - 4.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg

24 - Adlee Blacklock - 6’0 - So. - G - 3.7 ppg, 0.9 rpg

1 - Kennedie Shuler - 5’10 - Fr. - G - 1.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg

Head Coach: Scott Rueck (Oregon State, 1991)

14th Season at Oregon State (296-153); 28th Season Overall (584-241)

Scouting the Beavers

After a 73-51 win over #14 seed Eastern Washington, Coach Scott Rueck leads #3 seed Oregon State into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Rueck tries to lead the AP #12 Beavers to their fifth NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance since 2016 and their sixth overall.

Oregon State’s seven losses all come from top 25 opponents from the Pac-12, but the Beavers have also claimed five wins over top 25 Pac-12 teams, including season sweeps over Colorado (#3/4) and Utah (#16/20) and a home win over #9 UCLA. Against non-conference opponents, Oregon State is 12-0.

Raegan Beers leads Oregon State with team bests of 17.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, she had a 19 point and nine rebound performance in the win over Eastern Washington. In the final seconds of the third quarter against the Eagles, Beers rolled her ankle and did not play in the fourth quarter. She shoots 66.2 percent from the field, also adding 34 blocked shots and 36 steals on the season.

Junior Talia von Oelhoffen averages 10.7 points and 4.1 rebounds a game, she also has a 2.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year Timea Gardiner is averaging 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. Gardiner is the Oregon State’s most active three point shooter, hitting 40.4 percent.

Oregon State averages 71.7 points per game, while holding their opponents to 59.6 points per game. The Beavers shoot 46.4 percent from the field, including 36.0 percent from long range. Their opponents shoot 35.6 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent from deep. OSU corrals 40.1 rebounds a game with a +7.1 margin, adding 17.5 assists while committing 13.3 turnover a game.

Husker Report

Nebraska averages 73.0 points a game and holds their opponent to 64.3 points a game. The Huskers are shooting 42.3 percent from the field, including 33.6 percent from deep, while the opposition is shooting 40.5 percent and 30.0 percent from long range. Nebraska brings down 41.0 rebounds a game carrying a +8.0 margin, also adding 16.8 assists and committing 14.4 turnovers a game.

Jaz Shelley came off a rather disappointing game scoring wise, but still managed to have six assists in the 61-59 win against the Aggies. Shelley is averaging 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team best 5.6 assists per game.

Alexis Markowski, aka Double Double Machine, who had a 16 point and six rebound performance in the win against Texas A&M, is averaging 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Markowski has reached the top of the Nebraska career double double list joining Husker greats Kelsey Griffin and Jordan Hooper. Her next double double will put her alone atop Nebraska’s career double double list and would give her 20 on the year, matching Griffin’s school record 20.

Logan Nissley is coming off a 16 point performance of her own in the win in Corvallis, including two clutch free throws late in the game. Nissley is averaging 7.0 points per game and 2.1 rebounds a game.

Natalie Potts played 25 minutes in the win against A&M, but only had four points and had the personal fouls to match it, she did manage six rebounds. Potts averages 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Jaz Shelley needs five assists to match Husker great Nicole Kubik for #5 on Nebraska’s career assist list and is nine away from catching Jina Johansen at #4 on that same list. Shelley is also eight assists away from becoming the first Husker in history to record a pair of 200 assist seasons. She had 206 assists in 2022-2023.

Markowski needs 11 rebounds to match the #2 single season total (372) school history. She enters the game with 261 boards on the season.

Nebraska has set the school record with 288 three pointers on the year and needs 12 more threes to be the first Husker team in school history with 300 threes in a season.