Lincoln – Freshman Natalie Potts produced her third double-double of the season with game highs of 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead four Huskers in double figures, as the Nebraska women’s basketball team rolled to a 62-43 win over Michigan at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday night.
Potts, a five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, scored her 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a 5-for-5 night at the free throw line to help the Huskers pull away from the Wolverines and improve to 5-2 in the Big Ten and 13-5 overall. The 6-2 forward from O’Fallon, Mo., also pulled down six offensive rebounds to power the Big Red’s 21 offensive boards on the night, which they turned into 15 second-chance points against Michigan. The Wolverines slipped to 12-6 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
Graduate guard Darian White matched Potts with 13 points, while adding five defensive rebounds. It was White’s first double-digit scoring effort since Dec. 5.
Junior guard Kendall Moriarty added a huge effort off the bench with a season-high 11 points to go along with a pair of steals, as the Huskers won the turnover battle against the Wolverines, 18-15.
Junior center Alexis Markowski added double figures for the 18th straight game this season while contributing seven rebounds and two steals of her own for the Huskers. Graduate guard Jaz Shelley also produced a strong game with eight points, seven rebounds and a game-high six assists while holding Michigan star Laila Phelia to just 1-for-8 shooting from the field.
In a low-scoring defensive slugfest, Nebraska led from start-to-finish for the second straight home game, jumping to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes. The Huskers held a 17-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and maintained the nine-point edge (28-19) at halftime.
The Wolverines cut the margin to 28-24 with a 5-0 run to open the third quarter, before Potts answered with four straight points. Nebraska pushed the margin to 40-30 late in the third quarter on a basket by White and took a 46-31 lead to the fourth quarter after Potts closed the period with a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds left.
Michigan cut the margin to 53-40 with five minutes left, but a 7-0 run that included a bucket by Markowski, a three-pointer by White and two free throws by Potts pushed Nebraska’s margin to 20 points at 60-40 with 1:45 left.
The Big Red held Michigan to just 32.6 percent (15-46) shooting from the field, including 4-of-15 three-pointers (.267), while limiting their sixth opponent of the season to fewer than 50 points, including their second straight Big Ten foe at home (Illinois, 48).
Lauren Hansen led Michigan with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Phelia managed nine points by going 7-of-8 at the free throw line. The Wolverines were held to just six assists.
Nebraska managed 39 percent (23-59) shooting from the field despite hitting a season-low three three-pointers (3-17, .176). The Huskers did hit 13-of-18 free throws (.722) and produced a commanding 46-28 edge on the boards, including 21-8 on the offensive glass.
Nebraska returns to Big Ten road action on Sunday when the Huskers take on Penn State in University Park. Tip-off with the Lady Lions is set for Noon (CT) with a live video stream available from B1G+. The game is also available across the Huskers Radio Network, including free live audio on Huskers.com.
