Since joining the conference in 2011, Nebraska has played for a Big Ten tournament championship just twice. On Sunday, the Cornhuskers will have the chance to do something that they haven't in a decade.

After knocking off No. 12 Purdue, No. 4 Michigan State and No. 8 Maryland, Nebraska finds itself with one more game standing in the way of its first Big Ten tournament title since 2014.

It wasn't easy, as the Huskers battled to the very end against Maryland, even after getting as large as a 13-point lead in the first half. While Maryland clawed back and tied the game, clutch scoring from Nebraska advanced the tournament's No. 5 seed to its first championship game since the 2014 title as it beat the Terrapins 78-68.

Nebraska will face off against third-ranked Iowa, which beat Michigan 95-68 in Sunday's second semifinal. The championship game is set to tip off at 11 a.m.

The Huskers are doing it all on the back of Jaz Shelley, their grad student point guard who has played in 116 of the team's 120 minutes in three tournament games. The Australian has averaged 22 points and seven assists in her team's run to the Big Ten title game.

"Jaz Shelley, she is a very capable scorer, but she just does so much more for our team," coach Amy Williams said. "She's probably our best perimeter defender. We utilize her to guard the other team's best players. A lot of teams will take their best offensive threat and make sure that they're not going to get into foul trouble or put them on players that they know they can rest on one side of the ball, but we don't allow Jaz to do that. We're asking her to do so much for our team."

Shelley erupted for her best performance of the season Saturday, scoring 30 points with nine assists while playing all 40 minutes. She scored Nebraska's last 11 points of the first quarter with a trifecta of three-pointers, including a devastating ankle-breaking crossover on star Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers and a buzzer-beater that put the Huskers up by 13.

"I kind of went unconscious for a little bit," Shelley said about her hot first quarter. "I was kind of feeling it. Fortunate to have the courage to shoot those kinds of shots, so it was pretty cool to be able to do that."

Shelley's long-range dominance continued into the second with a pair of threes, but Sellers fought to keep her team in the game. She scored nine points without missing a shot, totaling 13 with six assists at the half. Sellers' efforts cut the 13-point deficit down to seven at the intermission, Maryland trailing 47-40.

Including the six straight points that ended the half, Maryland used a 17-4 run to tie Nebraska at 51 apiece. The Cornhuskers scored seven consecutive to regain their lead, but a pair of threes from Brinae Alexander pulled the Terps back within one at 60-59.

Yet, even as Shelley's scoring slowed, she still found ways to impact the game and power Nebraska to victory. With the defense keying in on her and pressuring her more heavily, Shelley said she was able to find her teammates and "get her assist game up."

"I had a lot of attention towards me, and it made other people open," Shelley said. "I wasn't on my heat check anymore, kind of slowed that down and tried to work through the offense a little bit better."

When the team needed her the most, the do-it-all player delivered. Despite a tough third quarter, she was flawless from the field in the fourth, hitting all three of her shots, all four of her free throws and grabbing three boards. To cap off her 11-point quarter and season-best night, she put the nail in the coffin with a left-wing floater that sealed the deal and advanced Nebraska to the conference title game.