Nebraska women to get stiff test vs. No. 20 Michigan State and its turnover-machine defense

The Nebraska women's basketball team got a one-game "reprieve" from a prickly part of its schedule, and that was no walk in the park either.

NU needed a finishing kick to get past Penn State on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where the home team had a 17-point lead whittled down to zero with four minutes left.

So, not exactly a breezy afternoon against one of three Big Ten teams still seeking their first win in league play.

The 72-61 result was needed for NU, which had dropped three straight resume-builders on the road to No.

17 Georgia Tech, No.

1 UCLA and No.

4 USC.

Husker head coach Amy Williams wasn't blaming the schedule, either, which had NU out in Los Angeles for four days, including the New Year's Day game vs.

the Trojans.

"We just ran into some buzz saws," Husker coach Amy Williams said Sunday.

"We didn't rebound the way we needed to.

It was on-the-court stuff that mattered way more than any of the logistics of traveling out west." People are also reading...

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28, 2024 Indie filmmaker Jeff Baena, Aubrey Plaza's husband, found dead at Los Angeles home Homestead kicks off film festival with Ken Burns' 'The West' Those three losses alone won't keep Nebraska from making its second consecutive NCAA tournament trip.

After all, UCLA and USC are both popular national champion picks.

As of Monday, the Huskers were ranked No.

34 in NET, a key metric used to determine the NCAA bracket.

The Huskers made the NCAA tournament as a 6 seed last season with a NET of 26.

A win on its home court against No.

20 Michigan State on Wednesday night would only benefit Nebraska, which must refrain from beating itself.

MSU ranks No.

7 in the country in turnovers forced (25.8 per game) and eighth in turnover margin (plus-10).

In three Big Ten games, the Spartans have posted a plus-10.7 margin.

Michigan State has three guards who can swipe away the ball Nyla Hampton, Jaddan Simmons and Jocelyn Tate each average more than two steals per game.

One counter for NU could be the steady hand of Allison Weidner, who had her fingerprints all over the Huskers' finishing 13-2 run to put away the Nittany Lions.

Weidner made a shot to put Nebraska up six and then sealed the game with an offensive rebound and two subsequent free throws.

Perhaps more importantly, she kept the ball out of harm's way.

"I thought Allison was huge," Williams said.

"Allison's presence on the court was really big for us she made a couple of big plays on the defensive side of the ball that maybe didn't show up in the stat sheet.

The confidence to handle the basketball ...

wait until we were set.

She has good time, good confidence and knew what we wanted to run and what we wanted to be in." In three of the Huskers' four losses this season, they've lost the turnover battle, too.

(Surprisingly, NU was plus-7 against the Bruins).

NU committed 16 turnovers on Sunday a similar figure could get it beat by the Spartans on Wednesday.

The Spartans will be playing just their third true road game of the season.

We know that being on the road in the Big Ten is an even bigger challenge and thats a good thing, MSU coach Robyn Fralick told local reporters.

I think if youre really a competitor, challenges are what youre looking for.

Well definitely have that.

Michigan State will have had ample rest by the time the ball goes up at PBA at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, having not played since New Year's Day.

Julia Ayrault, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, leads the Spartans in scoring at 16.2 points per game.

Grace VanSlooten (13.5 ppg) and Theryn Hallock (12.5) are other scoring threats the Huskers must contend with.

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