Aussies Lead Huskers in Setback to No. 9 Maryland

Aussies Lead Huskers in Setback to No. 9 Maryland

Source Credit: University of Nebraska Athletics

Lincoln – Husker freshman Ruby Porter scored a career-high 19 points while fellow Australian Isabelle Bourne pitched in a double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but No. 9 Maryland ran to a 95-73 women’s basketball win over Nebraska on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Nebraska slipped to 9-9 overall and 7-8 in the Big Ten, while the Terrapins maintained their grip on the top spot in the conference by improving to 14-2 overall and 10-1 in the league. Sophomore Ashley Owusu led four Terps in double figures with 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while fellow sophomore Diamond Miller contributed 24 points. Mimi Collins added 19 points and seven boards, while Chloe Bibby pitched in 16 points and seven boards.

Porter, who joined the starting lineup for the sixth time this season, hit 8-of-14 shots from the field including 3-of-7 three-pointers in her best performance of the season. The 5-10 guard from Adelaide, Australia knocked down a three-pointer early in the third quarter to spark a 10-0 Husker run that trimmed a 51-33 halftime lead by the Terps to just 56-46 with 5:28 left in the period. Porter capped the Husker run with another bucket, and the run included a three-point play by Bourne.

Bourne, a 6-2 sophomore from Canberra, Australia, joined Porter in scoring seven points apiece in the third quarter to help the Huskers stay within striking distance. However, after Porter scored on a layup off a pass from Bourne with 4:09 left in the third, Maryland exploded on a 17-2 burst in the final four minutes of the period to take a 77-50 lead to the fourth quarter.

Despite the deficit, the Huskers continued to fight to the finish, winning the fourth quarter 23-18. The final period included six more points from Bourne and seven from senior center Kate Cain, who finished with 17 points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Cain (7-10), Porter (8-14) and Bourne (8-15) combined to go 23-for-39 from the floor and 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the game, but the rest of the Huskers managed to hit just 8-of-24 shots on the day. Nebraska still produced one of its best overall shooting games of the season, hitting 49.2 percent (31-63) from the field, but went just 4-of-17 from three-point range (.235).

Maryland, which entered the game as the nation’s highest scoring offense at 91.5 points per game, put together an efficient effort from top-to-bottom and start-to-finish, hitting 39-of-70 shots (.557) including 8-of-19 three-pointers (.421). The Terps out-rebounded the Huskers 38-30 and won the turnover battle 12-8.

Nebraska led 4-2 early after buckets by Cain and Bourne to start the game, before Maryland erupted on a 10-0 run that forced a Husker timeout just 3:25 into the contest. Porter scored NU’s next five points to keep the Huskers within single digits at 18-9, but the Terps took a 27-16 lead to the second quarter.

Porter opened Nebraska’s scoring in the second quarter with another three-pointer, but the Terrapins scored on nearly every possession early in the period to push their lead to 42-23 with 5:40 left in the half. Cain finished back-to-back traditional three-point plays to close the first-half scoring for the Huskers, as the Terps took a 51-33 lead to halftime.

At the half, Maryland was shooting 60.6 percent (20-33) from the field including 55.6 percent (5-9) from three-point range. Nebraska hit 48.3 percent (14-29) of its shots, including 3-of-8 threes (.375). The Terps out-rebounded Nebraska 18-12 and won the first-half turnover battle 8-3.

Nebraska returns to Big Ten road action in the mid-week, traveling to Evanston, Ill., to take on No. 21 Northwestern on Wednesday. Tip time at Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 6 p.m. (CT) with a live video stream provided to subscribers of BTN Plus.

The Huskers also announced their tip time for next Sunday’s home game against Penn State as 2 p.m. (CT) with live video coverage on BTN Plus.