Hoosiers Complete the Comeback Down the Huskers 

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

   #13 Indiana Hoosiers were down 20 points 45-25 with 1:17 left before halftime and were able to erase a 17-point halftime deficit to beat the #12 Nebraska Cornhuskers 72-69 in Game 1 of the Allstate Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Indiana is 18-13 and will face Ohio State 24-6 in the Second-Round tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM. Nebraska is 18-12 and await a postseason tournament berth. Nebraska won the regular season meeting on January 8, 78-73 in Lincoln.

    Indiana took its first lead of the game with 1:06 left when Lenee Beaumont drained a three pointer to make it 68-67 Hoosiers. Britt Prince missed a pullup jumper with 47 seconds left. Shay Ciezki drove to the basket and gave the Hoosiers a three-point lead 70-67 with 32 seconds to go. Amiah Hargrove scored on a second chance layup with 17 seconds left to make it 70-69 for Indiana. Callin Hake fouled Neveah Caffey, and she sank two free throws to make it 72-69 Indiana with 12 seconds left. Nebraska had three chances to tie it as Britt Prince and Logan Nissley both missed three pointers and Callin Hake missed a tip in jumper as the Hoosiers complete the comeback and live to see another day while the Huskers head back to Lincoln.

   Shay Ciezki led Indiana with 22 points, and she has 696 points this season which is now second all-time on the all-time scoring list passing Mackenize Holmes who scored 692 points during the 2022-23 season. Ciezki is now 67 points behind Tyra Buss who scored 763 points during the 2017-18 season. Ciezki has scored 1,085 in her Indiana Career and 1,842 points in her college career. Ciezki went 10-20 from the field, 1-4 from three-point range and 1-1 from the free throw. The Senior dished out 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and played with four fouls.

   Lenee Beaumont scored 14 points, Neveah Caffey scored 13 points, and Edessa Noyan recorded her second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and her fifth career game with double digit rebounds and her fourth this season. Maya Makalusky added 9 points, and Jerni Kiaku was the only player to come off the bench for Indiana playing 17 minutes with 2 points, a steal and a rebound. Caffey, Noyan and Ciezki played for the full 40 minutes while Beaumont played for 38 and Makalusky played for 25 minutes.

   Indiana went 29-57 from the field for 51%, 5-13 from three-point range for 38% and 9-11 from the free throw line for 81%. The Hoosiers had 31 rebounds, 18 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks and 12 turnovers. The Hoosiers scored 40 points in the paint, 12 fastbreak points, 10 points off turnovers and 2 bench points.

   Amiah Hargrove scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half to lead Nebraska. Britt Prince scored 20 points with 11 of those coming in the first half. Logan Nissley added 12 points, and Jessica Petrie scored 10 points and 10 rebounds for her second double double of the season after she had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 92-53 win over Bradley on December 3. Nebraska finished 28-67 from the field for 41%, 5-22 from three-point range for 22% and 8-10 from the free throw line for 80%. Nebraska had 40 points in the paint, 13 points off turnovers, 12 bench points, 10 second chance points and 6 fastbreak points.

   Nebraska went to work in the first half, leading 9-2 to start the game as the Hoosiers had no answer for Hargrove inside and Prince was knocking shots down from mid-and-long range. The Cornhuskers led 45-28 at halftime. The Hoosiers chipped away at the lead outscoring the Cornhuskers 19-10 in the third quarter and trailed 55-47 going into the final ten minutes. Indiana outscored Nebraska 25-14 in the fourth quarter and went on a 12-2 run in the last two minutes and 2:23 seconds to complete the comeback and advance to face the Ohio State Buckeyes tomorrow afternoon.

   Indiana has won seven of their last nine games and they continue to find ways to win and do it with a very short rotation. Indiana put four in double figures, and they must hope they have enough left in the tank for tomorrow against Ohio State. Nebraska had 26 points in the paint in the first half and Indiana had 28 points in the first half. Nebraska let the lead slip away and they went cold in the second half, and they have a long week and half ahead to decide what postseason tournament they will compete in.