A tough fight just wasn’t enough for Nebraska women’s basketball Friday.

10-seed Nebraska fell to 2-seed UCLA in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference in Indianapolis Friday, 85-74. The Bruins improve to 28-2 on the year while the Huskers fall to 21-11.

Nebraska now awaits its fate on Selection Sunday, with all projections pointing to the Big Red being back in the Big Dance.
UCLA will take on the winner of Ohio State and Iowa.

UCLA used an 8-0 run late in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead into the second, but Nebraska immediately answered with a 10-0 run.

Nebraska was able to take a short-lived lead just before halftime and force a tie at 47-47 in the third quarter, but UCLA was ultimately too much. Another 8-0 run for the Bruins stretched the lead to 11 and never got closer than four as UCLA advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round.

The Huskers shot 48.4% for the game, including 7-of-18 3s. The Bruins shot 44.1%, making 6-of-29 from deep.

The biggest advantage for the Bruins was size, as UCLA used that to outrebound Nebraska 39-27, including 16 offensive boards. That contributed to a free throw discrepancy of 23 attempts for UCLA to just eight for Nebraska.

Britt Prince scored a team-high 24 points to go with six assists. Alexis Markowski (11) and Alberte Rimdal (10) joined Prince in double-figure scoring.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is slated for 7 p.m. CDT on Sunday, March 16. The bracket will be revealed on ESPN.

Box score

Elsewhere at the Big Ten Conference Tournament

1-seed USC defeated Indiana 84-79. The Trojans will take on 5-seed Michigan in the semifinals Saturday, after the Wolverines dominated 4-seed Maryland 98-71.

3-seed Ohio State outlasted 11-seed Iowa 60-59. The Buckeyes will face the 2-seed UCLA Bruins in the second semifinal on Saturday.

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