Lincoln - Jaz Shelley erupted for season highs of 22 points and eight assists while Alexis Markowski added her third straight double-double to ignite Nebraska to one of the biggest second halves in school history on its way to an 80-72 women's basketball win over Georgia Tech on Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Huskers, who improved to 6-2 on the season, led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter but fell behind 32-22 at the half after going 3-for-19 from the field in the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets, who slipped to 5-3 on the year, extended their lead to 15 points early in the third before the Big Red responded in a big way. Kendall Coley sparked the rally with back-to-back buckets in a 25-second span to cut the margin to 42-32. She finished with five points.

The Huskers went on to hit a remarkable 13-of-15 shots in the third quarter and took a 55-54 lead to the fourth after a period-ending three-pointer from Shelley.

Georgia Tech briefly regained the lead on a three-pointer from Ines Noguero, but back-to-back threes by freshman Logan Nissley put the Huskers back in front for good, matching their biggest lead in the game at the time at 61-57. Nissley finished with 11 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting in the game, including a three-pointer before the buzzer to close the first quarter.

Natalie Potts, Markowski and Shelley then scored six consecutive points after a Georgia Tech timeout with 8:22 left to give Nebraska its biggest lead of the game at 67-57 to cap a 12-0 run that helped flip the score by 25 points in under 12 minutes of game time.

Markowski notched her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Potts pitched in 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the game. 

Georgia Tech got no closer than four points the rest of the way, as Nebraska executed well and scored in late shot-clock situations down the stretch, including Shelley's three-point, banked hook shot from near the top of the key with 1:19 left. The shot gave Nebraska 1,000 points as a Husker. She also moved into the top five in Nebraska history in three-pointers made, while climbing into the top 10 at NU in career assists.

Nebraska hit 75.9 percent (22-29) of its second-half shots including 8-of-12 three-pointers (.667) fo finish at 52.5 percent (32-61 FG) and 38.5 percent (10-26 3FG) for the game. It marked the second straight game and third time this season that the Huskers hit 10 three-pointers in a contest. NU also committed a season-low five turnovers, while dishing out 23 assists, including eight by Shelley and seven by Darian White.

Nebraska's 58 second-half points tied for the 10th most in a second-half in school history. The production came against a Georgia Tech team that held nationally ranked Creighton to 57 points in an 11-point loss to the Bluejays last week in Cancun.

Kara Dunn led Georgia Tech with 22 points, including a first-half half-court buzzer beater to send the Yellow Jackets to the locker room with a double-digit lead. Tonie Morgan added 20 points, five rebounds and six assists in a strong effort. Noguero contributed 11 points, but the Huskers held Georgia Tech stars Kayla Blackshear and Rusne Augustinaite to just six points apiece.

Georgia Tech hit 46 percent (29-63) of its shots for the game, including 8-of-26 threes (.308). Tech also won the rebounding battle, 39-29, while Nebraska was plus-eight in turnovers (13-5), outscoring the Yellow Jackets 12-4 in points off turnovers.

Nebraska wraps up its three-game home stand against UNC Wilmington on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Tip-off with the Seahawks is set for 7 p.m. (CT) with tickets available now at Huskers.com. The game can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network, and a live video stream will be available to subscribers of B1G+.

HUSKERS WIN HAWKEYE INVITE

Gena Jorgensen, Sarah Barton and Anastasia Tichy all won individual titles on the final day of competition to lead Nebraska to the team title at the Hawkeye Invite on Saturday.

Jorgenson, a sophomore from Aberdeen, S.D., won the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 16:15.82 to post an NCAA B cut.

Tichy, a freshman from Salzburg, Austria, secured an NCAA B cut of her own with a winning time of 1:58.87 in the 200 butterfly.

Barton capped a strong day with a winning time of 1:57.28 in the 200 backstroke after the senior from Huntersville, N.C., claimed a victory in the prelims.

In addition to Nebraska's individual titles, several Huskers produced top-three finishes to help the team amass a winning total of 784.

Maia Hall put together an NCAA B cut with her second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:13.18. 

Caterina Bisiacchi joined Jorgenson in the top three of the 1,650 freestyle competition. The junior from Trieste, Italy recorded a time of 16:43.29 for a third-place finish and big points for the Big Red.

Anna Vlachou, Giulia Marchi, Lexi Kucera and JoJo Randby all earned spots in the 100 freestyle final, with Vlachou finishing third in a time of 50:57.

Vlachou, Randby, Kucera and Marchi also teamed up in the 400 freestyle relay to secure a second-place finish for the Huskers in a time of 3:23.27.

The Huskers hit the road for the Holiday Training Trip in Honolulu, Hawaii from Jan. 10-17 before they head to Illinois for their first meet of the new year (Jan. 27, 2023).

HUSKERS FINISH SECOND AT CLIFF KEEN

Las Vegas - Two Huskers claimed individual titles as the Nebraska wrestling team finished second at the 2023 Cliff Keen Invitational. 

Ridge Lovett (149) and Peyton Robb (157) finished atop their weight classes as NU amassed 125.5 team points. 

Finals
Lovett (149) won five-straight matches, including three bonus-point victories, to win the Cliff Keen title. He met Virginia Tech’s No. 4 Caleb Henson in the finals where he defeated him 4-3.

Robb (157) became the second 2023 Cliff Keen champ as he won he’s second-straight title in Vegas. He tallied four-straight victories before he met Virginia Tech’s No. 4 Jacori Teemer and defeated him 6-4. 

Third-place Matches
Caleb Smith (125) finished competition at the Cliff Keen Invite with a third-place finish and a 6-1 record. He won three-straight matches, including an overtime victory against No. 2 Matt Ramos, before meeting Oregon State’s No. 14 Brandon Kaylor and defeating him in overtime, 4-1. 

Lenny Pinto (184) won three-straight matches to open the Cliff Keen before falling to top-ranked Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) in the semifinals. Pinto then defeated Michigan’s Jaden Bullock in the consolation semis before falling to Oklahoma State’s No. 5 Dustin Plott in the third-place match. 

Fifth-place Matches
Brock Hardy (141) opened competition with three-straight victories, including two bonus point victories, en route to a semifinals matchup against Ohio State’s No. 5 Jesse Mendez. Hardy battled, but fell by major decision and moved on to consolation where he finished sixth.

Silas Allred (197) started with a pin and a major decision before falling by tech. fall to Cornell’s No. 6 Jacob Cardenas in the quarterfinals. In consolation, Allred recorded two-straight bonus-point victories before facing No. 3 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. Allred fell to Sloan, and then faced Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) and won by decision to finish fifth 

Consolation
Jacob Van Dee (133), Antrell Taylor (165), Adam Thebeau (174) and Harley Andrews (HWT) all won their opening Round of 32 matches, but dropped the following Round of 16 matches to move on to consolation. Van Dee tallied a tech. fall over Cal State Bakersfield’s Santino Sanchez before falling to Northern Iowa’s Julian Farber 9-5. He ended his tournament run with a 2-2 record. Taylor defeated Northern Iowa’s Evan Yant by major decision before falling to Purdue’s No. 30 Stoney Buell in the next round and ending his weekend with a 2-2 record. Thebeau and Andrews both dropped their opening consolation round and finished with an overall 1-2 record. 

Up next, the Huskers host South Dakota State on Saturday, Dec. 16. Action is set for 6 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on B1G+. 

125 - No. 9 Caleb Smith (6-1) 3rd
Round of 32: No. 9 Smith tech. fall Jake Ice (SHU) 19-4 (3:07)
Round of 16: No. 9 Smith dec. Nicholas Babin (Columbia) 8-6
Quarterfinals: No. 11 Jore Volk (Wyoming) dec. No. 9 Smith 4-2
Cons. of 8 #2: No. 9 Smith dec. No. 21 Troy Sprately (Oklahoma State) 5-4
Cons. of 4: No. 9 Smith dec. No. 2 Matt Ramos (Purdue) 8-4 SV-2
Cons. Semis: No. 9 Smith dec. No. 5 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) MFF
Third-Place Match: No. 9 Smith dec. No. 14 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 4-1

133 - No. 27 Jake Van Dee (2-2) DNP
Round of 32: No. 27 Van Dee tech. fall Jameson Garcia (Harvard) 19-3 (6:57)
Round of 16: Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) dec. No. 27 Van Dee 10-4
Cons. of 16 #2: No. 27 Van Dee tech. fall Santino Sanchez (Cal State Bakersfield) 15-0 (5:12)
Cons. of 8 #1: Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 27 Van Dee 9-5

141 - No. 4 Brock Hardy (3-3) 6th
Round of 32: No. 4 Hardy tech. fall Cole Solomey (Purdue) 21-0 (5:33)
Round of 16: No. 4 Hardy pinned Cole Brooks (Wyoming) 2:47
Quarterfinals: No. 4 Hardy dec. No. 24 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State)
Semifinals: No. 5 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) major dec. No. 4 Hardy 11-3
Cons. Semis: No. 9 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 4 Hardy 15-13
Fifth-Place: No. 24 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) major dec. No. 4 Hardy 13-5

149 - No. 1 Ridge Lovett (5-0) 1st
Round of 32: No. 1 Lovett pinned Noah Tapia (Hofstra) 1:35
Round of 16: No. 1 Lovett major dec. Dylan Gilcher (Michigan) 11-1
Quarterfinals: No. 1 Lovett dec. No. 12 Quinn Kinner (Rider) 13-6
Semifinals: No. 1 Lovett major dec. No. 5 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) 11-0
Finals: No. 1 Lovett dec. No. 4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) 4-3 

157 - No. 3 Peyton Robb (5-0) 1st
Round of 32: No. 3 Robb tech. fall Jaden Le (Columbia) 26-10 (6:28)
Round of 16: No. 3 Robb tech. fall Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 16-0 (4:03)
Quarterfinals: No. 3 Robb major dec. No. 13 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) 10-0
Semifinals: No. 3 Robb dec. No. 6 Will Lewan (Michigan) 8-2
Finals: No. 3 Robb dec. No. 4 Jacori Teemer (Virginia Tech) 6-4

165 - No. 10 Antrell Taylor (2-2) DNP
Round of 32: No. 10 Taylor dec. Connor Gaynor (South Dakota State) 8-5
Round of 16: No. 25 Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) dec. No. 10 Taylor 12-9
Cons. of 16 #2: No. 10 Taylor major dec. Evan Yant (Northern Iowa) 11-3
Cons. of 8 #1: No. 30 Stoney Buell (Purdue) major dec. No. 10 Taylor 12-1  

174 - Adam Thebeau (1-2) DNP
Round of 32: Thebeau pinned Luke Rada (Harvard) 2:19
Round of 16: No. 5 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) pinned Thebeau 2:12
Cons. of 16 #2: Sal Perrine (Ohio) pinned Thebeau 1:42

184 - No. 7 Lenny Pinto (4-2) 4th
Round of 32: No. 7 Pinto pinned Quayin Short (Wyoming) 0:50
Round of 16: No. 7 Pinto dec. No. 20 Dylan Fishback (NC State) 4-1
Quarterfinals: No. 7 Pinto dec. No. 5 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 12-10
Semifinals: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 7 Pinto 8-4
Cons. Semis: No. 7 Pinto dec. Jaden Bullock (Michigan) 9-6
Third-Place: No. 5 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Pinto 11-7 

197 - No. 12 Silas Allred (5-2) 5th
Round of 32: No. 12 Allred pinned Jake Trovato (Sacred Heart) 1:16
Round of 16: No. 12 Allred major dec. No. 21 Evan Bates (Northwestern) 11-2
Quarterfinals: No. 6 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) tech. fall No. 12 Allred 17-1 (5:52)
Cons. of 8 #2: No. 12 Allred tech. fall No. 23 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) 19-3 (6:09)
Cons. of 4: No. 12 Allred pinned Joey Novak (Wyoming) 4:57
Cons. Semis: No. 3 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) major dec. No. 12 Allred 12-1
Fifth-Place: No. 12 Allred dec. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech) 8-5

HWT - Harley Andrews (1-2) DNP
Round of 32: Andrews major dec. Jordan Greer (Ohio) 8-0
Round of 16: No. 3 Lucas Davison (Michigan) pinned Andrews 2:36
Cons. of 16 #2: Jose Valdez (Northern Iowa) dec. Andrews 3-2