Huskers Hungry for Postseason Play

The Nebraska women's basketball team is hungry for postseason play to begin following the completion of one of the most challenging schedules in school history.

The NET 28 Huskers (18-12) faced the NET's No. 28 Strength of Schedule among the 363 teams in the rankings. 

Although the Big Red fought its way to a 7-11 conference record, the Huskers faced a path in the Big Ten's 18-game round-robin plus one schedule that included a double-play with NET 10 Iowa.

Nebraska opened February with arguably the nation's hardest schedule, beginning with road games at NET 15 Ohio State and NET 6 Michigan, before a home game with NET 14 Maryland. After a road game at NET 9 Minnesota, the Huskers were back home to face NET 10 Iowa, before back-to-back road games at NET 24 Oregon and NET 26 Washington. The seven consecutive games against NET Top 26 teams in February featured four road contests, including Nebraska's 66-65 win at Washington (Feb. 22).

In fact, Nebraska played 11 games against Quad 1 opponents on the year and was one of only 35 teams among the NET's Top 60 to play double-digit games against Quad 1 foes.

The Huskers, who went 11-0 in regular-season non-conference play with key wins over NET 36 Virginia (91-82) and NET 47 North Dakota State (82-70) on neutral courts, added a NET top-100 win over NET 90 Creighton (84-50). The Bluejays advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals.

Nebraska has been ultra-competitive in its losses as well, despite facing a Big Ten Conference schedule that could have included as many as 12 games against 2026 NCAA Tournament teams.

In nine of Nebraska's 12 losses, the Huskers were within in two possessions of their opponent with six minutes or less remaining in the game. NU suffered a 73-71 setback at NET 17 Michigan State (Jan. 15), along with a pair of three-point losses against Big Ten foes and a four-point loss at NET 24 Oregon, with all four setbacks coming away from home.

Nebraska also faced its schedule with several personnel challenges because of minor injuries. In NU's single-digit setback to NET 23 USC (Dec. 29), the Big Red's second-leading scorer on the season Amiah Hargrove (13.1 ppg) left in the fourth quarter with a mild concussion. The injury also kept Hargrove out of a 10-point loss at NET 10 Iowa (Jan. 1) - a game that was tied with 5:30 left at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

At the start of February, Nebraska's third-leading scorer Jessica Petrie (11.5 ppg) missed the road loss at No. 15 Ohio State because of illness that also kept her out of the Big Red's win over Northwestern (Jan. 28). Petrie was also limited by the illness in the loss at NET 6 Michigan (Feb. 4), as she came off the bench for the first time all season and played just 17 minutes. The Huskers trailed just 79-74 with 3:41 left in Ann Arbor.

Later in February, NU's fifth-leading scorer Eliza Maupin (7.9 ppg) suffered a lower leg injury in the second quarter at NET 24 Oregon. At the time of the injury, the Huskers held a nine-point lead over the Ducks. Oregon overcame the Big Red in the second half in a 74-70 win in Eugene. Maupin missed Nebraska's wins at NET 26 Washington and a 41-point win over Rutgers to close the regular season. She also missed a three-point setback to Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis (March 4). In Nebraska's regular-season win over the Hoosiers, Maupin produced nine points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. She is expected to be available for the NCAA Tournament.

Throughout the journey, the Huskers were led by first-team All-Big Ten point guard Britt Prince. The 5-11 sophomore out of Omaha led Nebraska in scoring (17.4 ppg), assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.5 spg), while adding 4.1 rebounds per game. One of the nation's premier shooters, Prince hit 53.4 percent of her shots from the field, including 45.2 percent of her three-pointers. She also ranked among the top players in the country with her 90.5 free throw percentage that included a school-record 56 consecutive makes during the season.

One of 10 midseason finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, Prince produced 10 20-point games on the year, including a pair of 30-point performances.

Fellow sophomore Amiah Hargrove grew her game throughout the season and finished with six consecutive double-figure scoring efforts, including a 23-point performance at the Big Ten Tournament. The 6-2 forward hit 55.7 percent of her field goals, including 42.6 percent of her three-pointers, while knocking down 80 percent of her free throws. She also led the Big Red with 5.4 rebounds per game.

As a team, Nebraska ranks 18th nationally in scoring offense (79.3 ppg), while ranking 10th in free throw percentage (.787) and 12th in field goal percentage (.476).

The Big Red scored at least 60 points in each of its 30 games, including 20 games with 75 or more points as one of the nation's most dynamic offensive teams.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPN on Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. (CT).

Nebraska vs. the Bubble
Nebraska - NET 28 - SOS 28 - WAB 39 - Avg. NET Loss 22
Oklahoma St. - NET 29 - SOS 60 - WAB 37 - Avg. NET Loss 42
Iowa State - NET 33 - SOS 64 - WAB 40 - Avg. NET Loss 42
Virginia - NET 36 - SOS 55 - WAB 52 - Avg. NET Loss 44 (lost to NEB, 91-82)
Richmond - NET 37 - SOS 91 - WAB 51 - Avg. NET Loss 58
Virginia Tech - NET 41 - SOS 56 - WAB 34 - Avg. NET Loss 29
Clemson - NET 42 - SOS 42 - WAB 36 - Avg. NET Loss 29
Mississippi St. - NET 43 - SOS 40 - WAB 53 - Avg. NET Loss 28
Stanford - NET 44 - SOS 50 - WAB 57 - Avg. NET Loss 46
Colorado - NET 46 - SOS 49 - WAB 41 - Avg. NET Loss 49
North Dakota St. - NET 47 - SOS 180 - WAB 49 - Avg. NET Loss 43 (lost to NEB, 82-70)
Arizona State - NET 51 - SOS 65 - WAB 42 - Avg. NET Loss 42
BYU - NET 56 - SOS 57 - WAB 45 - Avg. NET Loss 44
Columbia - NET 58 - SOS 92 - WAB 59 - Avg. NET Loss 97
Texas A&M - NET 61 - SOS 8 - WAB 38 - Avg. NET Loss 43