Nebraska women knock off No. 25 Michigan State

LINCOLN, Neb. — Alexis Markowski erupted for a career-high 28 points while Allison Weidner matched her season high with 11, as Nebraska battled back from a 13-point first-half deficit on its way to an 85-80 women’s basketball win over No. 20 Michigan State on Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

With the victory, Nebraska extended its Big Ten-best 14-game home-court winning streak while improving to 12-4 on the season and 3-2 in the conference. The Spartans slipped to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.

Markowski added a team-high eight rebounds for the Huskers while going 10-for-19 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Markowski’s dominance inside put starter Ines Sotelo in first-half foul trouble and eventually disqualified both Julia Ayrault and Grace VanSlooten from the game late in the fourth quarter.

While Markowski controlled the paint, Weidner came off the bench and ignited the Big Red backcourt in her best performance of the season. The 5-10 guard from Humphrey, Neb., scored 11 points and added six assists while neutralizing Michigan State’s suffocating full-court defense after a shaky start for the Huskers that saw the well-rested and well-prepared Spartans take a 10-0 lead.

Freshman guard Britt Prince put three Huskers in double figures with 10 points.