Huskers Tip Off Full Practice Schedule

Nebraska Women's Basketball Head Coach Amy Williams met the media on Monday afternoon ahead of the first full practice day of the 2026-27 season.

Williams, who has guided the Huskers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, joined Nebraska Football Head Coach Matt Rhule and Men's Basketball Head Coach Fred Hoiberg at the Hawks Championship Center less than two hours ahead of practice at the Hendricks Training Complex. The practice was the first part of a full 20-hour week for the Huskers this season.

"I'm very excited to get things kicked off," Williams said. "Our non-conference schedule this year, having games against Kansas at a neutral site with with two potential WNBA prospects on their roster, and Creighton poses a completely different execution, and Texas A&M coming in here, and a road game or a neutral game with Cal. There's just a lot of really talented teams on that non-conference schedule that I think will challenge us in a lot of ways and help prepare for that conference schedule because it will be some high-powered offenses."

Nebraska, which finished at No. 28 in the final NCAA NET rankings a year ago and is one of only five Big Ten schools to finish among the top 45 in the NET rankings in each of the last five seasons, said the Big Red's schedule should put them in a strong position heading into an 18-game Big Ten schedule that will feature 12 games against teams that advanced to at least the round of 32 in last year's NCAA Tournament.

"We're constantly trying to do the best thing that we can do to position our team for NET rankings and seeding and selection for the NCAA Tournament," Williams said. "We are always trying to challenge ourselves at a high level."

Williams complimented the early work at practice of 2026 McDonalds High School All-American and two-time South Dakota Player of the Year Ashlyn Koupal.

"She is doing great. We have been challenging her. She is so versatile, so we have been throwing different things at her, giving her opportunities to play at different positions on the floor," Williams said. "I think she is hungry and eager. She has a humbleness about her and she just wants to learn and be the best she can."

Williams also discussed the progress in the return of 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Natalie Potts.

"She is a game changer, having Natalie Potts' energy, just that motor that is never-say-die, never stop, just consistently making plays on both sides of the ball, but the thing that has been really fun to watch, is that in her time away from live play with our team, she has really worked at trying to get better at a few skills," Williams said. "Her ball-handling skills have improved in her time that she was away. The way her perimeter shooting and consistency and confidence with that has improved. She has high days and low days where she is still knocking some of that rust off, but she has really high expectations of herself. She just makes a difference. Our whole team plays harder whenever she is out there."

Williams also had praise for the offseason work of returning first-team All-Big Ten point guard Britt Prince.

"The thing we have really noticed with Britt is the way she is keeping things hooked up all the time. Defensively, particularly I feel like she has just really worked hard," Williams said. "She has gained a lot of strength this offseason, so that allows her to keep people in front of her to really be playing in a stance, seeing both, and making plays on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, she has really been, in practice, much more aggressive-minded offensively, and our team is just so much better when she does that."

Season tickets for Nebraska women's basketball are on sale now at Huskers.com, while four-game mini-plans go on-sale Tuesday, Sept. 22. Single-game ticket sales begin on Friday, Oct. 2, in conjunction with Nebraska's Opening Night presented by Scheels.