The Nebraska women’s basketball team takes aim at a second straight Big Ten road win while shooting for a season series sweep of Minnesota on Thursday night in Minneapolis. Tip-off between the Huskers (15-5, 5-4 Big Ten) and the Golden Gophers (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten) is set for 7 p.m. (CT) at Williams Arena.
Nebraska heads to Minnesota after earning its first Big Ten road win of the season with a 72-71 victory at Wisconsin on Saturday. The Huskers rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a four-point lead in the closing seconds before the Badgers hit a three at the buzzer for the final margin.
It marked the third consecutive game that Nebraska rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to take a lead in the fourth quarter. In a 74-71 win over Michigan (Jan. 19), the Huskers trailed by 13 points in the third quarter. In a 76-68 loss to Purdue (Jan. 22), the Huskers trailed by 21 in the second quarter and 13 in the third before taking a four-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, only to see Purdue answer down the stretch.
Junior center Kate Cain led the Huskers in the first meeting with Minnesota this season, a 72-58 Husker win at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln (Jan. 4). Cain notched her third straight double-double to open Big Ten play with 19 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. Cain needs three blocks on Thursday to tie the Nebraska career block record (238, Janet Smith, 1979-82).
Sam Haiby, a sophomore from Moorhead, Minn., also had a big game for the Big Red in the first meeting with the Gophers. Haiby scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, while adding three assists and two steals. In Saturday’s win at Wisconsin, Haiby finished with 11 points and a career-high five steals, including a key steal with 7.7 seconds left and a pair of free throws with five seconds left to seal the win.
Senior Hannah Whitish (Barneveld, Wis.) also had 17 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting in the first meeting with Minnesota.
