Indiana survived and advanced in its Big Ten Tournament opener.
After trailing 45-25 late in the second quarter, the Hoosiers made a furious rally against Nebraska at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to post the largest comeback in program history.
A Shay Ciezki 3-pointer ended the first half scoring and pulled IU to within 17 at the break, 45-28.
And then the Hoosiers outscored Nebraska 19-10 in the third, and 25-14 in the fourth to complete a 44-24 second half. The unlikely turnaround came after IU allowed 29 points to the Cornhuskers in the first quarter.
Nebraska still led 67-60 with less than three minutes to go. That’s when Lenee Beaumont capped off the rally with a pair of 3-pointers in the final three minutes. IU outscored the Cornhuskers 12-2 in the final 2:44. Maya Makalusky and Shay Ciezki also made layups in the final three minutes, and Nevaeh Caffey made two free throws to cap off the scoring.
With a chance to tie, Nebraska missed multiple threes in the final seconds. The Cornhuskers made 11 of 16 shots in the first quarter, but just 17 of 51 the rest of the way.
“Give those kids credit, right? It would have been really easy for us to walk out and just say it wasn’t going to be our day, but they had that fighting spirit,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “So really, really proud of how they — like I said, how they did their work, how they got back into the game, and obviously how we were able to win it.”
Ciezki led the way for IU with 22 points. Beaumont added 14 for the Hoosiers.
Indiana (18-13) will face No. 5 seed Ohio State on Thursday at around 2:30 p.m. ET.
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