Michigan State couldn't find the points to advance on Friday against Nebraska as the Spartans made a quick exit from the 2024 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament in Minneapolis. MSU fell 73-61 after getting outscored a combined 41-20 in the second and third quarters.
The Spartans will await their fate on selection Sunday likely to play in the NCAA tournament next.
Julia Ayrault carried the bulk of Michigan State's scoring burden as she scored the game high of 25 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field. Ayrault also led the team on the class with five boards alongside the team high three blocks.
No other Spartan finished in double figures, though Jocelyn Tate, Moira Joiner, and Theryn Hallock finished with eight points apiece. DeeDee Hagemann led the team in helpers with six and Tate in steals with two.
The Huskers had four players finish in double figures, two with double-doubles even, led by Alexis Markowski with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Natalie Potts also finished with a double-double, notching 15 points alongside 11 rebounds, also adding three blocks and two steals as well. Jaz Shelley finished with 17 points and five assists while Logan Nissley scored 11 points.
MSU lost the rebound battle 44-30, giving up 17 second-chance points to UNL while scoring just eight itself. The Spartans finished dead even in points in the paint, 34-34, and shot relatively even in percentages from the field, 3-point range, and the free throw line, but just couldn't find the offense with only 69 possessions with 28 scores to Nebraska's 33 scores on 66 possessions.
The first quarter saw Michigan State playing strong, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on the team's second possession. Nebraska tied it up twice and took a narrow one-point lead with 6:58 to go in the opening stanza, but the Spartans responded right away and built up a five-point advantage by the midway point media timeout. MSU led by as much as six before UNL cut it down to one, trailing MSU 22-21 at the end of the opening quarter.
The second quarter started to see things go south for the Spartans as Nebraska mounted an 11-2 run to take a 34-26 advantage with 4:27 left in the half. MSU went ice-cold from deep, going 0-for-3 from 3-point range and just 3-for-14 from the field overall. At the half, MSU trailed 36-29.
The third quarter continued for MSU's offensive woes as UNL outscored the Spartans 26-13. The Huskers led by as much as 20 late in the quarter with just two players for MSU scoring in the third stanza. Ayrault scored seven with Joiner adding six of her eight points on the day. At the end of the third, Michigan State trailed 62-42.
MSU came out swinging in the fourth quarter as it mounted an 11-4 run through the 4:35 mark, cutting its deficit to 66-56. The Spartans couldn't break through into the single digit range from there, though, mostly trading baskets with the Huskers until the final buzzer with the final score 73-61.
Michigan State falls to 22-8 on the season and snaps its five-game win streak with the loss. MSU will await the results of Selection Sunday on March 17 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN to see where the Spartans will be dancing as the Spartans are expected to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
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