Nebraska Women's Basketball Upsets No. 2 Iowa

Fourth-quarter comeback interrupts potential Caitlin Clark coronation

Kaleb Henry | Feb 11, 2024

Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

What began with potential for a coronation ended in an upset.

Nebraska (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten) upended No. 2 Iowa (22-3, 11-2 Big Ten) 82-79 at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday. It is the first win over an AP top-five team for NU since the Huskers beat No. 5 Indiana on Feb. 14, 2022.

The Hawkeyes got on the board first and held control of the game for more than 39 minutes of play. Heading into the fourth quarter, Caitlin Clark had 31 points, leaving her just eight shy of the NCAA women's basketball career scoring record.

But Clark wouldn't notch a single point the rest of the way.

Logan Nissley put together a 5-0 run before Jaz Shelley's 3 with 30.2 seconds to go put Nebraska up 78-77. That was the first lead of the game for NU.

Shelley made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the upset while the Hawkeyes shot just 1-of-7 in the final two minutes.

Nebraska shot 42.5% for the game, including 10-of-31 from 3. Iowa hit 45.5% of its shots, making 10-of-32 3s.

The fourth quarter was the difference in the game, with Nebraska winning the final frame 27-10 and holding Clark to 0-of-6 shooting.

Shelley led the Huskers with 23 points and five assists. Three others scored in double figures: Nissley (15), Alexis Markowski (15) and Natalie Potts (14). Markowski also grabbed 11 rebounds for the double-double effort.

Nebraska goes to No. 5 Ohio State on Wednesday.

Gallery: Huskers Take Down Hawkeyes

Box score

Published Feb 11, 2024

KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.