The No. 9-seeded Michigan State women's basketball team is in Minneapolis, Minnesota preparing to take on No. 8-seeded Nebraska Thursday. Tipoff for the matchup is set for 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. The 2023 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament is being held at the Target Center in Minneapolis for the first time in its 29-year history.
As for Michigan State and Nebraska, it will mark just the second time the two programs have faced one another in the conference tournament. No. 2-seed MSU fell to No. 3-seed Nebraska 86-58 on March 8, 2014 in the semifinal round at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as UNL would go on to defeat No. 5-seed Iowa to win its only Big Ten Tournament title.
Michigan State will be playing its ninth-straight game without head coach Suzy Merchant when the team faces Nebraska. Merchant has been on a medical leave of absence after suffering a medical incident on Jan. 28. Dean Lockwood has been the Spartans' acting head coach in the interim and holds a 4-4 record. MSU also boasts three Spartans with All-Big Ten honors after the league announced season accolades on Tuesday.
Scouting the Cornhuskers
The Huskers enter the Big Ten Tournament with a 16-13 record on the season and an 8-10 mark in league action. Nebraska ended the regular season on a two-game winning streak after snapping a four-game skid. Those wins included a 90-57 road victory at No. 25 Illinois on Feb. 22 and an 80-64 home win for senior night over Northwestern on Feb. 26.
Other notable wins for the Huskers this season came in a 90-67 road win over No. 20 Maryland in College Park on Dec. 4 and an 85-79 triple-overtime victory over No. 20 Kansas in Lincoln on Dec. 21.
Nebraska's 71.2 points per game ranks eighth in the Big Ten in scoring, while the defense is fifth, holding opponents to just 65.6 points per game. UNL is second in the league in 3-point field goals made with 8.3 per game.
Four Cornhuskers earned All-Big Ten honors announced on Tuesday. Junior guard Jaz Shelley led the way with All-Big Ten first-team honors. Shelley ranked 10th in the conference in scoring with 15.2 points per game and also sits at 25th in the rebounding standings with 5.5 boards per game. She is first on the team for helpers and No. 3 in league standings with 6.3 assists per game, while averaging 1.6 steals per game.
Sophomore center/forward Alexis Markowski earned second-team honors and is second on the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game (25th in Big Ten standings), while averaging a double-double with 10.1 rebounds per game, a team-high. Markowski ranks first in the conference in rebounding average and total rebounds (294), while sitting at No. 12 in the league standings for blocks per game (0.8) and tied for No. 10 in total blocks (24).
Junior forward Isabelle Bourne and graduate guard Sam Haiby garnered honorable mention honors. Bourne averages 12.3 points (third on roster) and 6.5 rebounds per game (second), while Haiby averages 10.2 points (fourth) and 1.5 steals per game.
Head coach Amy Williams is in her seventh season leading her alma mater. She holds a 112-97 mark leading the Huskers and overall holds a 305-206 career record in 16 season as a head coach. Williams is 5-3 against the Spartans during her tenure in Lincoln.
Series Record
Michigan State is 5-10 against Nebraska all-time and enters the matchup on a one-game losing streak. The programs never faced one another prior to the Huskers joining the Big Ten in 2011-2012, and the Spartans are 0-1 in neutral court matchups.
In the lone meeting during the regular season, MSU stormed back from a 21-point deficit to almost get the road victory in Lincoln before falling short in a 71-67 loss. The game marked the first matchup at Pinnacle Bank Arena since an 82-71 MSU loss there on Feb. 17, 2019. A 2021 game in Lincoln was cancelled due to concerns over COVID-19.
Big Ten Tournament History
The 2023 Big Ten Tournament marks just the the fifth time that the Spartans have been the No. 9 seed. Michigan State is 2-4 all-time as the No. 9 seed.
Most recently, MSU earned the No. 8 seed in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, before falling to No. 1-seeded Ohio State, 74-58. MSU defeated No. 9-seeded Purdue 73-69 in the second round. MSU enters the 2023 tournament with a 25-26 all-time record in the event and just one tournament title in 2005.