Lincoln – Annika Stewart erupted for a career-high 21 points and Jaz Shelley notched her third double-double of the season to lead Nebraska to a 72-61 women’s basketball win over defending Mountain West Conference champion Wyoming on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Playing in front of a crowd of more than 4,500 for a noon tip-off, Nebraska completed just the second undefeated non-conference campaign in school history by knocking off its third 2021 NCAA Tournament team and its third defending conference champion. The Big Red improved to 12-0 with a perfect 11-0 non-conference record, joining the 2009-10 Huskers as the only Nebraska women’s basketball teams to go through non-conference play unbeaten.
Shelley, a 5-9 sophomore from Moe, Australia, was the driving force behind Nebraska’s victory over the gritty Cowgirls (4-5), finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and a steal. She had all seven of her assists in the opening half, while adding seven points and five boards in 14 first-half minutes.
While Shelley got Nebraska off and running, Stewart produced the best day of her college career with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in just 15 minutes of work. The 6-3 post from Minneapolis, Minn., knocked down 3-of-7 three-pointers while adding a career-high five two-point field goals. She also added a career-best three blocked shots on the defensive end.
Stewart was a key player in Nebraska building a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter after scoring 10 straight points for the Huskers in the third period to turn a 46-33 NU edge into a 56-37 lead with two minutes left in the period.
The Huskers took their biggest lead of the game on an Alexis Markowski free throw that made it 60-40 with 9:17 left in the game. Nebraska maintained a 19-point advantage with just over four minutes left, before the Cowgirls produced a 10-0 run in a two-minute span to cut the margin to single digits. NU closed out the 11-point win for its ninth win by double digits in 11 non-conference games.
Isabelle Bourne added a strong effort with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, while starters Sam Haiby and Bella Cravens each added nine points in another balanced Big Red effort.
