Nebraska Women’s Basketball

[Doctor Fate]

Landed Eliza Maupin (6-3 forward, K-State) and Hailey Weaver (5-11 guard, Northwestern) in the transfer portal. Alanna Neale (5-10 guard, four star) is our only incoming freshman, as Olivia Hamlin has decommitted.

These three should give us a nice boost in athleticism and add some solid length for switchability on defense.

[Greg S]

Landed Eliza Maupin (6-3 forward, K-State) and Hailey Weaver (5-11 guard, Northwestern) in the transfer portal. Alanna Neale (5-10 guard, four star) is our only incoming freshman, as Olivia Hamlin has decommitted.

These three should give us a nice boost in athleticism and add some solid length for switchability on defense.

Would love to see us have a relatively injury free season next year. Or at least no season enders. Really like how Amy Williams coached that team last year considering how many big injuries they sustained.

[Doctor Fate]

Nice win today in the opener. Britt Prince had 19 points in 21 minutes on 7-12 shooting. Claire Johnson had 21 off the bench on 7-9 shooting. Our guards and wings are long and more athletic than last year, can switch almost everything on defense and get out in transition.

Plus, we are one of 3 programs with 3 or more ESPN top 100 commits:
- #22 Ashlyn Koupal
- #69 Ava Miles
- #100 Madeline Stewart

[Doctor Fate]

Signed three ESPN top 100 recruits today, including five star forward Ashlyn Koupal who was ranked #22.

Any Williams now has signed three 5 stars (Ashlyn Koupal, Britt Prince, and Taylor Kissinger).

[Greg S]

Signed three ESPN top 100 recruits today, including five star forward Ashlyn Koupal who was ranked #22.

Any Williams now has signed three 5 stars (Ashlyn Koupal, Britt Prince, and Taylor Kissinger).

Yeah I saw a post yesterday, I think from 10/11 out of Lincoln that one service had this class as #7 overall in the country. Got to love the work Amy Williams has done on the recruiting trail the last few years. I need to get to more games.

Greg

[OmahaRedWing]

Huskers on a roll. They beat Creighton last night 84-50. Wow.

[Doctor Fate]

We have a really deep team, especially considering three key contributors have been out (Natalie Potts, Logan Nissley, and Emily Fisher). Should be ranked in the coming weeks if we keep this going.

[Doctor Fate]

Britt Prince made the Nancy Lieberman watchlist for top 1 guard in the nation. Against Oral Roberts right now, 14 points in 13 minutes on over 70% shooting.

This has got to be our deepest team in a long time. 11 players contributing and Natalie Potts is not even back. I’m not 3 seniors, all of whom will be replaced by a top 100 prospect next year.

[OmahaRedWing]

Britt Prince made the Nancy Lieberman watchlist for top 1 guard in the nation. Against Oral Roberts right now, 14 points in 13 minutes on over 70% shooting.

This has got to be our deepest team in a long time. 11 players contributing and Natalie Potts is not even back. I’m not 3 seniors, all of whom will be replaced by a top 100 prospect next year.

This team has looked really good so far.

[Doctor Fate]

Britt Prince made the Nancy Lieberman watchlist for top 1 guard in the nation. Against Oral Roberts right now, 14 points in 13 minutes on over 70% shooting.

This has got to be our deepest team in a long time. 11 players contributing and Natalie Potts is not even back. I’m not 3 seniors, all of whom will be replaced by a top 100 prospect next year.

This team has looked really good so far.

We "should" be 10-0 going into our matchups with #11 USC (home) and #19 Iowa (away). And I think those are both winnable.

[Greg S]

Britt Prince made the Nancy Lieberman watchlist for top 1 guard in the nation. Against Oral Roberts right now, 14 points in 13 minutes on over 70% shooting.

This has got to be our deepest team in a long time. 11 players contributing and Natalie Potts is not even back. I’m not 3 seniors, all of whom will be replaced by a top 100 prospect next year.

Do we have an estimated time frame on Potts returning? I had thought she was going to be ready at the start of the season. She will be a heck of an addition (and we really missed her last year).

[Doctor Fate]

Britt Prince made the Nancy Lieberman watchlist for top 1 guard in the nation. Against Oral Roberts right now, 14 points in 13 minutes on over 70% shooting.

This has got to be our deepest team in a long time. 11 players contributing and Natalie Potts is not even back. I’m not 3 seniors, all of whom will be replaced by a top 100 prospect next year.

Do we have an estimated time frame on Potts returning? I had thought she was going to be ready at the start of the season. She will be a heck of an addition (and we really missed her last year).

I've heard they are hoping she returns in January as B1G play starts up. I'm guessing she will come off the bench for a little bit before replacing Jess Petrie in the starting lineup, with Jess coming off the bench and taking some minutes from Petra Bozan.

[Doctor Fate]

According to ESPN, we have the #15 recruiting class of 2026.

[Doctor Fate]

We play Virginia tonight in the Emerald Coast Classic championship game at 8:30pm EST. Britt Prince had 18 pts and 7 ast last night to lead us past Purdue FW.

We're still have 10 people double digit minutes, which is a little skewed because Logan Nissley and Emily Fisher have each missed a few games. But I expect the rotation to be tightened up soon, especially with Natalie Potts coming back. Will be interesting to see who has their minutes cut.

[Doctor Fate]

Beat Virginia last night and captured the Emerald Coast Classic championship. Now 7-0.

Britt Prince had another 30 pts and 6 ast on 12-17 shooting. Now tied for 22nd in the nation in scoring while shooting 64%, including 53% from three.

[nebugeater]

Beat Virginia last night and captured the Emerald Coast Classic championship. Now 7-0.

Britt Prince had another 30 pts and 6 ast on 12-17 shooting. Now tied for 22nd in the nation in scoring while shooting 64%, including 53% from three.

I know it is not conf play, but there has been some decent competition for both the men's and women's teams. Have the Men's and Women's teams ever started the season a combined 14-0 before? Highly doubt it.

[Doctor Fate]

Beat Virginia last night and captured the Emerald Coast Classic championship. Now 7-0.

Britt Prince had another 30 pts and 6 ast on 12-17 shooting. Now tied for 22nd in the nation in scoring while shooting 64%, including 53% from three.

I know it is not conf play, but there has been some decent competition for both the men's and women's teams. Have the Men's and Women's teams ever started the season a combined 14-0 before? Highly doubt it.

Not sure if they've ever started a combined 14-0 before but I could see them both starting 10-0!

[Greg S]

Should be fun to watch.

[Doctor Fate]

We are ranked #15 in the NCAA women's NET rankings.

[Doctor Fate]

Beat Bradley 92-53 last night. Britt Prince had 17 points on 7-9 shooting. Always impressed with her composure and how selfless she is, because if she shot the ball more she could be averaging 30 ppg. She's 15th in the nation in scoring and taking less shots than everyone ranked before her with only two of them shooting a higher %. I think her shooting % will come down once league play starts but I hope she hunts for her own shots a little more because we'll need that.

I also think Ashlyn Koupal will be a big addition next year. She's the #22 player in the nation according to ESPN, a long and athletic 6'3" forward who can score at all three levels.

[Greg S]

Beat Bradley 92-53 last night. Britt Prince had 17 points on 7-9 shooting. Always impressed with her composure and how selfless she is, because if she shot the ball more she could be averaging 30 ppg. She's 15th in the nation in scoring and taking less shots than everyone ranked before her with only two of them shooting a higher %. I think her shooting % will come down once league play starts but I hope she hunts for her own shots a little more because we'll need that.

I also think Ashlyn Koupal will be a big addition next year. She's the #22 player in the nation according to ESPN, a long and athletic 6'3" forward who can score at all three levels.

Yeah it will be nice to have a player with that combo coming in. Really looking forward to Potts return later this year. Hopefully gives us another boost. Wonder if it will be next year before she is back to where she was, after such a long layoff.

[Doctor Fate]

Beat Bradley 92-53 last night. Britt Prince had 17 points on 7-9 shooting. Always impressed with her composure and how selfless she is, because if she shot the ball more she could be averaging 30 ppg. She's 15th in the nation in scoring and taking less shots than everyone ranked before her with only two of them shooting a higher %. I think her shooting % will come down once league play starts but I hope she hunts for her own shots a little more because we'll need that.

I also think Ashlyn Koupal will be a big addition next year. She's the #22 player in the nation according to ESPN, a long and athletic 6'3" forward who can score at all three levels.

Yeah it will be nice to have a player with that combo coming in. Really looking forward to Potts return later this year. Hopefully gives us another boost. Wonder if it will be next year before she is back to where she was, after such a long layoff.

That's likely the case for Potts. But Prince, Potts, and Koupal will be a really strong trio. I've seen several places suggest that Prince will get drafted in the 2028 WNBA draft and that she ceiling could be a borderline all-star. Some places I've also seen suggest that Koupal has position-less potential and could be a point-forward type of player who impacts every statistical category.

[Doctor Fate]

First true road win today over Penn State, 101-83. Scored 67 in the 2nd half. Britt Prince scored 20 on 6-12 shooting and struggled to get going in the 1st half but was able to get to the free throw line in the 2nd half and found her rhythm. She also had 6 assists.

Amiah Hargrove added 26 off the bench on 10-14 shooting (4-5 from 3). And Logan Nissley had 14 off the bench on 4-6 shooting from 3.

We were ranked 11th in the NET rankings going into this.

[Doctor Fate]

Now ranked #24 in the AP poll and #12 in NET rankings. Britt Prince is 16th in the nation in scoring (21.2 PPG with 64-54-83 shooting splits) with only 2 players in the top 20 shooting a higher FG% and none shooting a higher 3P%.

As a team we are:
#2 in FG%
#6 in AST
#9 in PPG
#12 in point differential
#21 in 3P%

Our next games:
12/9 vs. Omaha
12/14 vs. Illinois St.
12/21 vs CA Baptist
12/29 vs. #16 USC
1/1 @ #11 Iowa

[Doctor Fate]

Now ranked #24 in the AP poll and #12 in NET rankings. Britt Prince is 16th in the nation in scoring (21.2 PPG with 64-54-83 shooting splits) with only 2 players in the top 20 shooting a higher FG% and none shooting a higher 3P%.

As a team we are:
#2 in FG%
#6 in AST
#9 in PPG
#12 in point differential
#21 in 3P%

Our next games:
12/9 vs. Omaha
12/14 vs. Illinois St.
12/21 vs CA Baptist
12/29 vs. #16 USC
1/1 @ #11 Iowa

Apparently we are also 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio and 4th in bench scoring.

[Louie]

54% from deep is insane.

[Doctor Fate]

Last two wins have been by a large margin, as expected. We still have no scored less than 80 points.

#12 in the NET rankings, as is the men's team. And moved up 1 spot to #23 in the AP Poll.

[Doctor Fate]

We are now #23 in the AP Poll and #25 in the Coach's. NET has us #12, here is a breakdown for that:


ESPNs assessment of Ashlynn Koupal (ESPN #22) and her fit next year:

Nebraska has raced out to a hot start this season and should return its three leading scorers next year, including star guard Britt Prince. With that nucleus intact, any newcomer hoping to make an immediate impact must be an interchangeable piece who won't disrupt the flow of the offense. That's exactly what Koupal offers. She thrives off the ball, can do a little bit of everything offensively and brings enough shooting to be a real threat in a motion-driven system. Whether slotted on the wing or working inside-out, Koupal has the versatility to fit cleanly alongside Nebraska's core and contribute right away.

[Doctor Fate]

Topped 80 again Cal Baptist after a slow start in the first half. Our offense sometimes takes some time to get rolling while our defense keeps our head above water. That could be an issue as we get into conference play as I don’t think our defense will be able to do that against all the ranked opponents we’ll face. Our depth also helps us wear teams down.

[Doctor Fate]

Lost to USC today. Poor decision making down the line cost us. And we just don’t have the post players we need to compete. Hopefully incoming Ashlynn Koupal will give the athleticism and rebounding we lack. Britt Prince played really well, though she was getting pressured full court almost all game and had 5 turnovers. I’m disappointed that she’s not getting more shots in this offense. 6-9 today and 1-2 from three, 5-5bfrom the line.

[nebugeater]

Husker woman lost their second game of the year. Two losses in a row to ranked opponents.

After 12 wins the second loss came on the road to Iowa (#14) 86-76

[Greg S]

Husker woman lost their second game of the year. Two losses in a row to ranked opponents.

After 12 wins the second loss came on the road to Iowa (#14) 86-76

I watched a chunk of the game. Nebraska led at the half and was close at the end of 3. They were without Amiah Hargrove, who they really could have used to help neutralize Iowa's inside game. Not sure how long she's out for? Also haven't heard how close we are to getting Annie Potts back this season (if it goes much longer, can they get a medical redshirt/hardship?).

With Hargrove out I was impressed with Eliza Maupin. She really stepped up but essentially played the 2nd half starting with 3 fouls....

[Doctor Fate]

Husker woman lost their second game of the year. Two losses in a row to ranked opponents.

After 12 wins the second loss came on the road to Iowa (#14) 86-76

I watched a chunk of the game. Nebraska led at the half and was close at the end of 3. They were without Amiah Hargrove, who they really could have used to help neutralize Iowa's inside game. Not sure how long she's out for? Also haven't heard how close we are to getting Annie Potts back this season (if it goes much longer, can they get a medical redshirt/hardship?).

With Hargrove out I was impressed with Eliza Maupin. She really stepped up but essentially played the 2nd half starting with 3 fouls....

In these two losses we were really hurt in the second half by turnovers too. Not sure how long Amiah Hargrove is out for and she definitely would've helped. We actually were able to keep up in the rebounding dept in this game but weren't able to get to the free throw line. Also, once Iowa moved to contain Britt Prince (after the 1st half she was 9-13 and on pace to hit 40 points) we had no one who could take the defensive pressure off of her.

I don't Natalie Potts is even practicing yet. I don't see her coming back, let alone contributing the way she can at full health, anytime soon.

I will add though that this is one of the deepest teams we've had recently, and with the incoming recruiting class we should be even deeper next year. We need more athleticism and the incoming class should really help there.

[Doctor Fate]

Petra Bozan and Jess Petrie let the Iowa bigs get deep position near the hoop and the result was Hannah Stuelke and Ava Helden shooting 15-21 for 39 points, getting to the line 10 times, and grabbing 5 offensive rebounds (more than Petrie and Bozan had total rebounds). We need better post players and getting Potts back next year at full health, along with Ashlyn Koupal, will be a big upgrade. Petrie and Bozan will be solid backups.

[Doctor Fate]

5 star Ashlyn Koupal had 38 pts, 17 rebs, 9 ast, 7 blk and a steal last Saturday. For the season she is averaging 29.8 pts and over 15 reb.

[Doctor Fate]

We struggled shooting the ball against Indiana last night but Britt Prince bailed us out in the 4th. Finished with 20 points (6-11 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-7 FT) and 7 assists with only 1 turnover, including 11 pts and 4 ast in the 4th. We really struggle to generate offense when she's out and we lack another playmaker to get her the ball in her spots. At one point late in the 3rd we were up over 10 points and it looked like we were finally going to pull away. But Britt subbed out, Indiana then went on a 13-2 run, and the run only ended once Britt came back in.

Jess Petrie got bullied by Zania Socka-Nguemen on both sides for most of the game, letting her get to her spots on almost every possession and establish deep in the post. Luckily it was only her second game back from injury and she was on a minutes restriction.

I think UCLA is going to beat the fire out of us on Sunday.

[Doctor Fate]

Journal Start is reporting that Natalie Potts has still not been cleared for full court practice with contact.

Nebraska women’s basketball player Natalie Potts hasn’t been medically cleared to resume full-court practice with contact, which means she won’t be playing in a game anytime soon.

Nebraska has at least 16 games remaining with regular season and postseason contests.

After she’s cleared for full-contact play, there were be several more benchmarks Potts would have to meet in the strength of her surgically repaired knee to be able to play in a game, even if she doesn’t have any setbacks in her rehab.

...Potts is 13 months out from knee surgery after being injured during a game in November 2024.

[Greg S]

Journal Start is reporting that Natalie Potts has still not been cleared for full court practice with contact.

Nebraska women’s basketball player Natalie Potts hasn’t been medically cleared to resume full-court practice with contact, which means she won’t be playing in a game anytime soon.

Nebraska has at least 16 games remaining with regular season and postseason contests.

After she’s cleared for full-contact play, there were be several more benchmarks Potts would have to meet in the strength of her surgically repaired knee to be able to play in a game, even if she doesn’t have any setbacks in her rehab.

...Potts is 13 months out from knee surgery after being injured during a game in November 2024.

Thanks for update. I wonder if she can get a medical redshirt or hardship? If so, that’s the route I would try since we are so deep into this season.

[Doctor Fate]

As expected we got slapped by UCLA Sunday night. They came out and pressured Britt Prince every second she was on the court, whether she had the ball in her hands or not. When she had the ball they funneled her towards Lauren Betts and switched every screen. Jess Petrie, Petra Bozan, and everyone else who set a screen would slip to the three point line instead of rolling to the hoop and because most of them cannot shoot from 3, UCLA ignored them and would trap Prince. Then because no one was moving off ball, Prince would have to dribble out of the trap or force a pass. She was gassed and had to basically do everything, resulting in her not even playing the last 5 minutes and as the game went on all her shots were short.

Another issue I have with out roster (outside of the front court issues I've mentioned before) is that we do not have another high level playmaker and ball handler to take pressure off Prince. That means no one is consistently getting Prince the ball in her spots so she has to handle all of the offense running, and when she does move to get to her spots she's tired and the shot clock is at 10 seconds or less.

Lastly, Amy Williams keeps saying that our depth is our superpower. I do agree with that to an extent but I also think playing 10 players 13+ minutes a game can keep key players from getting in rhythm. For example, they want multiple players to be getting 10+ shots a game to spread out the defense and give Britt Prince space. However, there is a large amount of inconsistency from everyone outside of Prince game to game and the balanced attack has resulted in her only taking 12 shots per game while other top 40 scorers in the nation are shooting closer to 20 shots per game.

[Doctor Fate]

Another loss to another ranked team in another game we could/should have won. After a first quarter with 11 turnovers and going down by double digits in the 3rd, we were up by 3 with about 80 seconds to go. Because our post players )again) could not contain the opposing team's bigs, our perimeter players had started doubling VanSlooten whenever she got the ball down low. This allowed a wide open three to tie the game. Britt Prince hit a tough pull up from the shoulder at the end of the shot clock with about 48 seconds left to put us up by 1. A few fouls and more turnovers and we're down by two with 5 seconds left. Long story short, we have more end of game issues with decisions and play calling and don't even get a shot off.

Amiah Hargrove and Britt Prince played very well. Again, I'm still amazed at the gameplan where Britt only gets 9 shots. She's almost in the 60-50-90 club and is only getting 12.1 shots per game. She is scoring 23% of our points on ridiculous efficiency but is only taking 19% of our shots. So that means that players with low efficiency like Jess Petrie are making up the difference. Amiah Hargrove and Logan Nissley should also be getting more shots.