MADISON, Wis. — Coming off of its second Big Ten win of the season, the Wisconsin women's basketball team (5-13, 1-6 B1G) will look to steal another game on the road from Nebraska (13-4, 2-4) as the Cornhuskers get back into play after a COVID-19 outbreak caused them to pause activity.
Here are five things you need to know before tuning into Thursday's game from Lincoln.
1. DOUBLE HEADER: Thursday's game will be a part of a Badger-Huskers basketball double header as both the Wisconsin and Nebraska men's programs square off from Lincoln in the matinee time slot of 4 p.m. The originally scheduled women's matchup will serve as the prime-time performance from Pinnacle Bank Arena starting at 8 p.m. To encourage attendance for both games of the double-header, fans who attend the men's matchup in the afternoon will also earn free re-entry for the women's game with seating in select sections. Tickets for both games can be found here.
2. B1G MOMENTUM: The Badgers head into Lincoln coming off their second Big Ten win in two games and their second consecutive Sunday victory after topping Penn State at the Kohl Center, 69-57, on Sunday. After starting slow in the Big Ten, A high-energy, fast-paced Penn State full-court press looked to cause trouble for Wisconsin on offense and allowed the Nittany Lions to hold the lead through most of the first half. A 13-4 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter and a huge third quarter, where the Badgers outscored the Lady Lions, 25-12, as well as two huge second-chance buckets from guards Sydney Hilliard and Katie Nelson in thr fourth quarter sealed the victory with Wisconsin at home.
3. LIGHTS OUT: Tying a season high this season, Wisconsin laced 10 3-pointers over Penn State, finishing shooting 10-22 (45.5%) from deep on the day. The three leading scorers for Wisconsin in Nelson, Julie Pospisilova and Brooke Schramek were all lights out from the 3-point line on Sunday with Nelson leading the way totaling four triples, Schramek notched a career high three long balls and Pospisilova adding two for herself while also shooting 9-17 from the field.
4. KATIE IS KEY: Leading the way for Wisconsin in Sunday's win over the Nittany Lions was graduate student Katie Nelson. The Boston University transfer that followed her head coach from out east to the Midwest seemed to have everything clicking Sunday afternoon. in addition to the four 3-pointers she saw fall though the net, the guard went 7-10 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line to end with a UW career-best 24 points. Nelson's contributions didn't stop there as she also contributed six rebounds, three assists and three steals on defense for the Badgers, having her best overall game in a Badger uniform.
5. SCOUTING NEBRASKA: Coming off of a 10-day pause in activity due to health and safety protocol, the Cornhuskers haven't seem game action since their 93-83 loss to Iowa on Jan. 16. Nebraska also boasts the return of two of their leading scorers in Jaz Shelley and Sam Haiby, who missed Nebraska's last game against Iowa. Shelley and Haiby average 13.8 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Another Husker to keep an eye on is freshman center Alexis Markowski, who has emerged as a bigger and bigger part of Nebraska's game plan as the season has got on. Originally filling in for an injury, Markowski is a four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season, averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a starter.