Sunday was one heck of a day for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It was especially one heck of a day for Jaz Shelley, Amy Williams and the rest of the Nebraska women's basketball team, who pulled off a massive upset of the Iowa Hawkeyes while also stopping the game's best player in Caitlin Clark from setting a career scoring record in Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers pulled off their improbable comeback against the second ranked Hawkeyes thanks to outscoring their Big Ten rival 27-10 in the fourth quarter. Jaz Shelley was a big reason why they were able to pull off that comeback. Especially when she hit the three-pointer with seconds left in the game to give the Nebraska Cornhuskers the lead.
After hitting that three-pointer, Shelley found herself in the middle of one of the two controversies that erupted after the game. The guard was running back down the court to play defense when she waved her hand in front of her face.
That movement looked very similar to a move that Clark herself does when she's celebrating a good play. It's one that has been used by Iowa opponets before to taunt Clark. So naturally, social media thought Shelley was doing the same.
Not long after Shelley got over the shock of the "coolest thing" she'd ever done (in her words) she took to social media herself to make sure that people knew she was, in fact, not taunting Clark or the Hawkeyes with that move.
"Just to clear the air," the Nebraska Cornhuskers star wrote. "This was not a gesture at Caitlin or Iowa. I have the upmost respect for that program. This is how we signal our face guard defense"
Just to clear the air.. this was not a gesture at Caitlin or Iowa. I have the upmost respect for that program. This is how we signal our face guard defense https://t.co/oOx6nC6TOF
— Jaz Shelley (@JazShelley) February 11, 2024
Several Husker onlookers pointed out that right before Shelley made the motion, head coach Amy Williams did something very similar. That certainly seems to underline that it was a defensive call the guard was passing on to her teammates.
Nebraska Cornhuskers star clears air after Iowa coach's tirade
That wasn't the only controversy to come out of the game, however. It turns out that Iowa coach Lisa Bluder is a sore loser.
After the game, Bluder threw a bit of a hissyfit because her post game press conference wasn't taking place when she wanted. It got so bad that while the Husker players were talking to the media after the win, Bluder could be heard yelling
Here's the audio from my external microphone during today's press conference. As Alexis Markowski was answering a question, you can hear Lisa Bluder trying to get into the media room, saying, "this is bullshit, this is not Big Ten protocol... they play music while you shoot free… pic.twitter.com/f34ttfmYoM
— Owen Siebring (@owensiebring) February 11, 2024
Jaz Shelley didn't have to address this one. But it turns out that the Nebraska Cornhuskers did nothing wrong here either.
Actual full context is this: Nebraska players took an extended time to get off the court, because of the celebration. When they showed up for the press conference, Iowa still had not come out of the locker room.
— Mitch Sherman (@mitchsherman) February 11, 2024
The Nebraska SID said when the Huskers started that he would… https://t.co/hzjw3kpWBk
As Mitch Sherman pointed out, it appears that Bluder brought that on herself.
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