Michigan State will open play as the No. 4 seed in the 2024 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon in Minneapolis against No. 5 seed Nebraska. The Cornhuskers rallied in the fourth quarter Thursday to power past No. 12 Purdue and set up a rematch opportunity for the Spartans.
In first-year head coach Robyn Fralick's Big Ten opener, MSU fell 80-74 in East Lansing to Nebraska on Dec. 9. The Spartans finished the regular season 22-7 overall and 12-6 in league play, the first time MSU has exceeded the 10-win mark in Big Ten and 21 wins in the regular season since 2015-2016. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers finished 19-10 overall and 11-7 in regular season action before Thursday's win over the Boilermakers.
Michigan State's four seed in this year's matchup marks just the second time the Spartans have earned the fourth seed in the tournament. The prior time was in 2013 when MSU advanced to the title game before falling to Purdue.
MSU brings a number of league honors with it to Minneapolis this weekend after graduate guard Julia Ayrault earned All-Big Ten First-Team honors. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock earned Sixth Player of the Year honors as well, just the second Spartan to do so since Kalisha Keane in 2009-2010. Graduate guard Moira Joiner and junior guard DeeDee Hagemann earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors (Hagemann was named Honorable Mention by media, while coaches was Second-Team).
The Spartans enter Friday's matchup on a five-game winning streak that dates back to a 70-66 victory at Michigan on Feb. 18 saw MSU outscore opponents 79.2–60.8 points per game.
Nebraska also earned a handful of All-Big Ten selections this season. Junior center/forward Alexis Markowski earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, while graduate guard Jaz Shelley earned second-team honors. Freshman forward Natalie Potts was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the coaches.
The Huskers bring the eighth best offense in the Big Ten to the court, averaging 72.7 ppg, while the defense ranks third, holding opponents to just 63.4 ppg. The Spartans are second (84.5 ppg) and sixth (67.1 ppg), respectively. UNL ranks first in the conference in rebound margin, though, averaging a +9.0 advantage.
Individually, Markowski is seventh in the Big Ten in scoring with 15.8 ppg and second in rebounding with 10.6 rpg, while Shelley ranks 22nd in scoring (13.0 ppg), sixth in assists (5.3 apg), and fourth in assist to turnover ratio (2.0). Markowski is also ninth in the league in field-goal percentage (.477), and Shelley is also ninth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.343).
Friday's matchup will mark just the third meeting all-time between the programs in the Big Ten Tournament. The teams are tied 1-1 with Michigan State defeating Nebraska in last season's nine versus eight seed matchup in Minneapolis where the Spartans defeated the Cornhuskers 67-64. Hagemann led MSU with 18 points in that matchup with Joiner adding 16. The other neutral court tournament meeting was March 8, 2014 when the Cornhuskers won 86-58 in Indianapolis.
Overall, MSU trails UNL in the all-time series 6-11, though the Spartans are 5-4 in East Lansing despite December's home loss. The Huskers hold a perfect 6-0 record in Lincoln.
Earlier this season, MSU shot just 14.8% from 3-point range in its home loss to Nebraska. The Spartans also lost the battle at the boards to a 46-30 Husker advantage, though UNL managed just 15 second chance points to MSU's 12. The Husker's bench came up big in the matchup with 34 points to MSU's 26, though the Spartans were shorthanded at the time.
Michigan State enters the matchup with a 26-27 record all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and hold a No. 21 ranking in the NET, the fourth-highest ranking in the conference. Nebraska currently sits at No. 30 in the NET.
Start time for tomorrow's matchup is expected around 3 p.m. Easter Time on the Big Ten Network. The game start time will follow the No. 1 Ohio State versus No. 8 Maryland game. The winner of MSU-UNL will take on the winner of that matchup.
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