A BIG part of the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ success in the 2022/23 NCAAW season was the efforts of Aussie Jaz Shelly, who had another strong campaign in the collegiate system.
Shelly was in her junior season with the Cornhuskers, and continued to show signs of progress in her individual game. Having slowly worked her way into the starting lineup, the guard is now one of the staples of the team’s structure, and played another vital role this past season.
The Moe native is best described as a playmaking guard with plenty of scoring capability on the offensive end, and used those attributes to her advantage once again. She posted career-high figures in a number of categories in her most recent campaign and is continuing on her upward trajectory.
Shelly started the season in a strong passing form, recording 10 dimes in her first game, while her teammates were the beneficiaries of her work. She finished the season ranking 14th in the NCAAW for assists with an average of 6.2 per game, and helped generate plenty of offence for Nebraska in the process. A true floor general, Shelly made her fellow Cornhuskers’ life much easier by drawing in the defence and finding her teammates in scoring positions.
As the season rolled on, Shelly became much more of a scorer, exploding in December to take control of the team’s scoring load on a number of occasions. She kicked things off with a whopping 32 points against the Bulldogs, which was the beginning of a strong scoring stretch for the guard.
Shelly recorded double-digits in each of her 11 outings to close out the season, and looked much more confident in her shot as the fixture rolled on. A season-high figure of 37 points on 11/21 shooting against the Golden Gophers was a glimpse of her scoring capabilities.
She finished the season with an average of 14.5 points per game, which is the best figure of her four-year career to date, proving a threat scoring at all three levels. Whenever the defence sent a double-team her way, Shelly’s passing ability often brought these efforts undone, making her a tough matchup in a lot of ways.
Shelly continues to improve as each season rolls on, combining her passing ability with her scoring arsenal to become a true offensive threat. The 22-year-old seems destined for a big senior campaign and should continue to do Australia proud as her star keeps rising in the NCAAW.
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