By Josie Simpson

Louisville advanced in the NCAA Tournament after a hard-fought win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Hard to come by

Louisville won the tip-off, but Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski quickly grabbed a defensive rebound and found Britt Prince for an early three-pointer.

Olivia Cochran answered with a layup, then both teams traded baskets through the first four minutes of the game. Then the scoring grew scarce as nobody scored for three minutes.

When the scoring resumed, it went right back to a back-and-forth affair.

The first quarter ended with Louisville trailing 14-16.

Nebraska carried its momentum into the second quarter with a Logan Nissley triple, but Cochran responded with a jumper.

Makenly Randolph battled for second-chance points, tipping in her own miss after multiple offensive rebounds.

Markowski and Prince hit jumpers to push Nebraska’s lead to five points, and then exchanged threes by both teams put the score at 26-21.

The Cards then sprung together enough of a scoring spurt to retake the lead at 27-26. But Nebraska just matched the spurt to go back up by five.

Then Tajianna Roberts found her shot, hitting a layup and a three to tie the game at 32-32.

Ja’Leah Williams added a layup, and after the shot-clock turned off Roberts got a breakaway steal and a layup to end the half.

Louisville led 36-32 at the break.

Rise, fall and rise again

Roberts opened the third quarter with a layup, pushing Louisville’s lead to six and extending the run between quarters to 11-0

Then the scoring drought began again. Over four minutes past before anyone hit a shot, but once they did Louisville pushed the lead up to nine with Jayda Curry’s first three of the game.

Nebraska responded with free throws from Amiah Hargrove and a Markowski layup, cutting the deficit to 42-36.

Isla Juffermans extended Louisville’s lead with a layup off an assist from Nayla Harris, but Markowski answered with a layup and a free throw, closing the gap to 44-39.

The game continued to go back and forth, with both teams exchanging turnovers and missed shots.

In the final minute, Elif Istanbulluoglu scored back-to-back layups, helping Louisville hold the advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Louisville was up 50-44.

Nebraska came out in the fourth firing, with Nissley sinking a three and Prince following up with a jumper to cut Louisville’s lead to one.

While Roberts, Harris and Cochran struggled to connect, Jessica Petrie put up a layup to give Nebraska the lead. 

Nebraska drained another three, pushing them ahead 54-50 and prompting Jeff Walz to call a timeout.

Randolph hit a jumper out of the break, but Nebraska remained aggressive as Alberte Rimdal added another layup.

Cochran capitalized with a bucket, and after another Nebraska turnover Curry hit consecutive jumpers to put Louisville back in front 58-56. 

With one minute remaining, Britt Prince tied the game at 58-58 with a layup, leading to another Louisville timeout.

Out of the break, Curry missed a three, but Cochran grabbed the offensive rebound and drew a foul. She made one of two free throws to put Louisville up 59-58.

With 25 seconds left, Prince committed an offensive foul, giving the ball back to Louisville and fouling out of the game. Curry then hit two free throws, extending the lead to 61-58 with 21.9 seconds remaining.

Nissley had a chance to tie the game but missed and Randolph secured the defensive rebound. Cochran was fouled and hit one free throw, bringing the score to 62-58.

Nebraska turned the ball over once more, leading to another foul on Cochran, who again made one of two free throws, sealing the game.

Louisville won 63-58. 

Survived

It my have been sloppy, but a win in March is nothing to sneeze at. Louisville’s offense was non-existent at times, but an 11-2 run to end the game sealed the deal.

Despite shooting just 21% from beyond the arc, the Cardinals found other ways to generate offense, with Roberts leading the way with 16 points.

Cochran added 14 points and five rebounds, while Curry contributed 13 points and six assists despite struggling from three.

Curry did seem to reaggravate her shoulder injury that kept her out of the ACC tournament. Her availability on Sunday will be crucial as the Cards prepare for TCU.

Louisville also found success on the boards, out-rebounding Nebraska 39-35 including 18 offensive rebounds that led to key second-chance points.

Harris was active on the glass, grabbing nine rebounds and tallying four steals.

The Cornhuskers’ 24 turnovers proved costly, allowing Louisville to capitalize in transition.

With this win, Louisville is headed to face TCU in the second round on Sunday, who is led by ex-Louisville player Haley Van Lith.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics