The Huskers pushed their lead to 21 points at 49-28 with 3:10 left in the third quarter and maintained a 20-point lead after a pair of
Annika Stewart free throws with just over two minutes left in the period. Then Michigan State found a spark. Parks and Tory Ozment scored on back-to-back possessions, before DeeDee Hagemann added a bucket of her own. Matilda Ekh then closed the third quarter with MSU's first three-pointer of the game to cut Nebraska's lead to 53-40.
Bourne steadied the Huskers with their first six points of the fourth quarter on a three-pointer and a traditional three-point play to push NU's margin briefly back to 59-44, before Ekh responded with back-to-back threes in a 45-second span. Ekh scored 13 of her 15 points for the Spartans in the second half.