Under pressure by Northwestern’s Courtney Shaw (15), Nebraska’s Sam Haiby (4) eyes the basket as she scores a layup at the buzzer to give the Huskers a 65-63 win over Northwestern on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Nebraska’s Ashley Scoggin (0) brings the ball up the court against Northwestern’s Veronica Burton (12) in the second half Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Nebraska’s Sam Haiby (right) celebrates her layup at the buzzer that gave the Huskers a 65-63 win against No. 15 Northwestern on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Her shot was the No. 1 play on ESPN's top-10 plays.
The last of the Nebraska women’s basketball team's 47 rebounds on Thursday was the best one.
Husker junior guard Sam Haiby scored the game-winning basket with less than 1 second left to give the Huskers a 65-63 upset of 15th-ranked Northwestern at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Haiby’s winning basket came right after her winning rebound, which came after Haiby missed what looked like it would be the final shot of regulation. But after missing a layup on the left side of the basket, Haiby got her own rebound on the right side of the hoop and quickly got off a shot high off the backboard with about 0.5 seconds left in the game.
“I looked backwards, threw it at the rim and it went in,” said Haiby of the winner. “I’m going to thank the basketball gods for that one.”
On her first attempt to win the game with 3 seconds left, Haiby drove from the top of the key, but was closely guarded by two defenders.
“There wasn’t really any openings,” Haiby said. “I just tried to make a play there, and then proceeded to get my rebound.”
Haiby’s buzzer-beater gave Nebraska (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) its best win of the season.
“That’s definitely a shot that everyone dreams of making as a little kid, so that was pretty cool to experience here at Nebraska with my teammates,” Haiby said.
The win was Nebraska’s first against a ranked team in about one year — the last coming on Jan. 4, 2020, against No. 24 Minnesota — and ended a streak of six straight losses against ranked teams over two seasons. The Huskers hadn’t beaten a top-15 team since 2014.
And it was a big boost for a team that had to slog through the second half of December when injuries and an in-season transfer had the Huskers down to seven players in two recent games. Nebraska had lost three straight games after a 3-0 start.
“It’s rewarding. It’s so rewarding,” said Husker forward Isabelle Bourne. “There has obviously been a lot of people in and out. The energy has been a bit down after those tough losses, against Indiana and Purdue. To get a little break and come back together and have a team win like that where everyone contributed, I think it’s going to be really, really helpful for us, and what we all needed.”
Northwestern (4-1, 2-1) was beaten for the first time this season, and hadn’t been outscored in any quarter this season until Nebraska did so in the third quarter, 13-7.
Haiby led the Huskers with 19 points. Her game-winner came after she missed about 5 minutes of clock time in the fourth quarter after going down with a cramp in her calf that she said was “very painful.” She returned with about 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“It was very frustrating,” Haiby said. “I wanted to be out there for my team. I think they handled it well. They weathered some storms there, but I’m glad we came out on top at the end.”
Nebraska led by seven points when Haiby left the game, and Northwestern gradually cut into the lead, making for some anxious moments for Williams.
“I knew that Northwestern would pick the heat up in the backcourt, just because the game circumstance warranted it, but also without our primary ball-handler on the court that they’d probably try to heat things up a little,” Williams said. “I was just trying to stay engaged with the remaining team until Sam was able to get back with us.”
After returning, Haiby promptly scored on a drive to the basket to give Nebraska a 63-61 lead. The Wildcats tied the game twice in the final 2 minutes but never regained the lead.
Nebraska outrebounded the Wildcats 47-35, and the Huskers scored 18 second-chance points, including the winner.
Nebraska really needed those rebounds to get extra shots because Northwestern had 12 steals.
Bourne had her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Scoggin also scored 11 points and made two of Nebraska’s season-high nine three-pointers.
Ruby Porter returned from an ankle injury, so the Huskers were able to dress eight players. All eight Huskers scored, and Nebraska outscored Northwestern 16-0 in bench points.
In the first quarter, the Wildcats' smaller lineup hit a lot of jump shots and was getting steals for layups. But Nebraska kept the game close and took the lead when the Wildcats made just 1 of 12 shots from the field in the third quarter.
Lindsey Pulliam led Northwestern with 19 points.
Photos: Huskers knock off No. 15 Northwestern in women's hoops matinee
Under pressure by Northwestern’s Courtney Shaw (15), Nebraska’s Sam Haiby (4) eyes the basket as she scores a layup at the buzzer to give the Huskers a 65-63 win over Northwestern on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska’s Ashley Scoggin (0) brings the ball up the court against Northwestern’s Veronica Burton (12) in the second half Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska’s Sam Haiby (right) celebrates her layup at the buzzer that gave the Huskers a 65-63 win against No. 15 Northwestern on Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Her shot was the No. 1 play on ESPN's top-10 plays.