INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shay Ciezki had 22 points and seven assists, Nevaeh Caffey scored nine of her 13 in the fourth quarter, and No. 13 seed Indiana overcame a 20-point deficit to beat Nebraska 72-69 on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Indiana (18-14) has won four in a row and is 7-2 following its 0-10 start in Big Ten play.

No. 12 seed Nebraska (18-12) has lost seven of its last nine games and may have seen its NCAA Tournament bubble burst.

Amiah Hargrove led the Cornhuskers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Britt Prince had 20 points and eight assists. Logan Nissley scored 12 and Jessica Petrie added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Ciezki had her 21st game this season with at least 20 points and passed Mackenzie Holmes (692 points, 2022-23) for second on Indiana’s single-season scoring list with 694 points this season.

Lenee Beaumont made two 3s in an 8-0 spurt that gave Indiana a 68-67 lead — its first of the game — with 1:06 left. Prince missed a pull-up jumper before Ciezki darted to the rim for a layup with 32 seconds to go. Hargrove had an offensive rebound and putback that made it a one-point game with 17 seconds remaining before Caffey made two free throws to cap the scoring.

Prince and Nissley missed potential tying 3-point shots in the closing seconds.

Beaumont scored 11 of her 14 in the second half and Edessa Noyan had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Indiana, which trailed 45-25 late in the second quarter.

Then-No. 25 Nebraska beat the Hoosiers 78-73 at home Jan. 8 to snap an eight-game skid in the series, which Indiana leads 14-7.

Up next

Indiana: Plays 11th-ranked and fifth-seeded Ohio State in the second round on Thursday.

Nebraska: Awaits a potential postseason invitation.

Carey Leads Huskers to 5-4 Win

By: NU Athletic Communications

Dylan Carey went 5-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI to lead Nebraska to a 5-4 win against South Dakota State on Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (7-5) scored five runs on 11 hits, while South Dakota State (4-8) totaled four runs and 10 hits.

Carey’s five-hit performance is the first by a Husker since Gunner Hellstrom at Rutgers on April 21, 2018. With the two doubles, Carey moved into a tie for second with Daniel Bruce (2000-05) and Matt Hopper (2000-03) on the all-time list, trailing Will Bolt by one.

Mac Moyer was 2-for-3 with two walks and a pair of runs scored, while Cole Kitchens went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. Case Sanderson drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, and Trey Fikes added a hit and a run.

Pryce turned in a strong performance in his first career start, working four scoreless innings on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Tucker Timmerman tossed two innings, allowing two runs, before Colin Nowaczyk surrendered two runs across 1.1 frames. Kevin Mannell earned his first win of the season, retiring all five batters he faced across 1.2 scoreless innings to close it out.

Nebraska jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Moyer drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, while Overbeek singled to put runners on first and second. Carey doubled down the left-field line to score Moyer, and Kitchens’ two-RBI single to left field brought home Overbeek and Carey to make it a three-run lead.

The Huskers added a run in the second when Fikes was hit by a pitch and scored on Sanderson’s sacrifice fly to center, extending the lead to 4-0 through two innings.

South Dakota State chipped back into the game in the fifth against Timmerman, as a pair of RBI doubles pulled the Jackrabbits within 4-2.

The Jackrabbits tied the game at four in the top of the eighth with two-run homer to right field.

Nebraska answered immediately in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead. Moyer doubled down the left-field line to open the inning, and Carey continued his impressive day at the plate with an RBI double to left field that brought home Moyer to give the Huskers a 5-4 advantage.

Mannell then shut the door, retiring the Jackrabbits in order in the ninth to preserve Nebraska’s one-run victory on Wednesday.

Nebraska continues its homestand this weekend with Big Ten play, as the Huskers welcome Michigan State to Lincoln for a three-game series on Friday-Sunday, March 6-8 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.