Maryland women’s basketball’s Big Ten Tournament run is over.
The Terps fell short of becoming the first No. 8 seed to reach the conference championship game, losing to No. 5 seed Nebraska, 78-68, in the semifinals Saturday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
Jaz Shelley scored a season-high 30 points to lead the Cornhuskers (22-10), who advanced to the Big Ten final for the first time since winning the title in 2014. Nebraska will face No. 2 seed Iowa, a 95-68 winner over No. 6 seed Michigan, in the championship game Sunday afternoon.
Shyanne Sellers had 15 points to lead a balanced offense for the Terps (19-13), who had five players score in double digits. Faith Masonius added 14 points, Allie Kubek chipped in 11 and Brinae Alexander and Bri McDaniel each had 10.
Despite the loss, Maryland is expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after defeating No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Ohio State in the quarterfinals Friday.
“Love how we played the last three days,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “We fought, and we battled both ends of the floor. We have a locker room full of a lot of competitors that have fought and stuck through a lot of adversity this season. You see that they’re built for March, and we’re ready to take on the next tournament.”
After trailing by 13 points in the first half, Maryland kept creeping closer in the third quarter and tied it at 51 on a layup by McDaniel. Nebraska did not give up the lead, however, and took a 60-59 advantage into the fourth.
Shelley’s sixth 3-pointer of the game gave the Huskers a 65-59 lead near the eight-minute mark. Nebraska stretched its lead to 11 with 4 1/2 minutes left and a jumper by Shelley stopped a brief rally by the Terps, giving the Huskers a 74-66 lead with 1:25 remaining. She scored 11 of Nebraska’s 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a 4-for-4 effort at the free-throw line in the final minute.
“I just thought we were right there,” said Sellers, who added seven assists and six rebounds while playing with a bandaged thumb on her right hand. “I thought we just didn’t make a shot when we needed to push over that hump. I feel like, if we would have grabbed that lead, we probably would have never looked back.”
Shelley made 10 of 16 shots, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range. Alexis Markowski grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Terps had a tough time containing Shelley, who was 5 for 8 from beyond the arc in the first half. She scored the last 11 points of the first quarter on a layup and three 3s in succession and Nebraska led 25-12 after the first.
Maryland cut the gap to 32-27 before Shelley hit two 3s and Jessica Petrie added one to give the Huskers a 12-point lead halfway through the second. The Terps hit 10 of 13 shots in the period and closed to within 47-40 at halftime.
The Huskers made 10 of 18 3-point attempts in the first half, while Maryland made 1 of 2. Nebraska finished 13 of 28 from deep and Maryland went 4-for-13.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.