Amy Williams Has the Huskers Reaching for the Stars

The Nebraska women's basketball coach has shaped her team into believing they can beat any team in the nation

People who thought the Nebraska women's basketball team would make a quick exit in last week's Big Ten tournament may have been a bit surprised. The Huskers won three games in three days (Purdue on Thursday, Michigan State on Friday and Maryland on Saturday) to earn another opportunity to beat the No. 2 seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in Sunday's championship game. (NU had downed the Hawkeyes 82-79 on Feb. 11 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.)

NU lost to Iowa in the championship game, but not before taking Iowa to the wire. NU showed a lot of grit, passion and determination and were in position with seconds to go in regulation to beat the favored Hawkeyes who were playing in front of a sellout crowd made up mostly of Hawkeye fans.

Yes, the Huskers lost in OT 94-89, but they were the aggressors from the start. And with a little over two minutes left in regulation, Nebraska had Iowa on the ropes, leading by eight points.

And Nebraska had a golden opportunity to win the game with less than 10 seconds to go. But NU's last shot was no good, forcing an OT. The Huskers even grabbed the lead in OT.

Was Nebraska going to do the unthinkable? Were they going beat the nation's third-ranked team, who were led by record-setting Caitlin Clark? Were they going to beat the Hawkeyes for the second time in two months?

To Iowa's credit, the Hawkeyes made a couple of critical plays late in OT to seal the win.

It was interesting to see the attitude of Nebraska head coach Amy Williams and her players in the postgame presser. They were devastated with the loss. "We believed we were going to win the game," Williams said.

Missing from their reactions were, "Gee we're glad to be here. Glad we played the Hawkeyes close. We're happy with what we accomplished in the tournament."

None of that. The Huskers were emotional, but they were also exceptionally mad they didn't win. You get the feeling this year's Husker team might hate losing more than they love winning.

During the entire tournament the Huskers played with poise, passion and determination. The Huskers' resolve shows that Williams is putting her team in a position to reach for the stars.

This is her eighth year as head coach. During that time, she's had three teams that won at least 20 games in a season: 2017-18 (21-11), 2921-22 (24-9) and this year (22-11).

So what does the future look like for the Huskers?

The bad news is NU has to say goodbye to Jaz Shelley, Darian White, Annika Stewart and Maddie Krull after this season.

The good news? There is a lot of existing talent and a great class of recruits coming in to the program.

Returning players

• First-team All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski
• Guard Allison Weidner
• Starting All-Freshman Team member and B1G Freshman of the Year winner, forward Natalie Potts
• Starting guard Logan Nissley
• Guard Kendall Corey
• Guard Kendall Moriarity
• Guard Callin Hake

Newcomers

Joining the existing players will be the recruiting class of '24 headed by five-star guard Britt Prince. Also coming in will be Amiah Hargrove (from Christopher, Illinois) and Amy Williams' daughter, Kennadi Williams.

Husker fans might want to get their 2024-25 season tickets ordered as soon as they become available.

Okay, but what about the rest of this year's team?

If I could offer a bit of advice: Those who are tempted to sell this year's team short will do so at their own peril.

How 'Bout Them Huskers

The top story in this week's podcast is that of the Husker women's basketball run in the B1G tournament. Husker men's basketball is also highlighted for its 22-9 record and getting its second conference road win Sunday, routing Michigan 85-70.

Husker Dan: Will the Basketball Gods Smile Upon Nebraska?