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Nebraska Women’s Basketball Season Preview
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- Nebraska Women’s Basketball Season Preview
The Husker women have made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and are looking to take the next step forward. One way they plan to do that is by looking backward and welcoming two former starters back to the court after rehabbing major knee injuries.
Who Is Gone?
After a couple of summers of relative quiet, 2026 proved to be a tumultuous offseason. In addition to the graduation of starting guard Callin Hake and reserve forward Eliza Maupin, Nebraska saw five players depart via the transfer portal. Those were forward Jessica Petrie (Indiana), center Petra Bozan (Penn State), and guards Claire Johnson (Murray State), Hailey Weaver (waiting for an NCAA ruling on another year of eligibility), and Allana Neale (Seattle).
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Petrie was pressed into service as a starter the last two seasons after Natalie Potts' knee injury. Late in the 2025-26 season, Amiah Hargrove nudged Petrie out of that starting spot. With the return of Natalie Potts, it was likely that her playing time was going to go down significantly.
Petra Bozan was a solid player but never developed into a polished defender or reliable offensive threat. We will see if the Nittany Lions can turn the experienced international player into a more dynamic threat on one or both ends of the floor.
Weaver generally came off the bench and was a stalwart defender for the Huskers. She is hoping to ge a medical redshirt for one of her years at Northwestern but even if she gets that, she has decided to leave Nebraska.
Johnson was brought in from Samford as an explosive scoring threat. She didn't have the same level of productivity in the Big Ten and returned home to Kentucky and is expected to start for Murray State.
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Neale was a well-regarded recruit but rarely saw the floor last season. That is a rarity for Amy Williams who generally plays her entire roster in nearly every game.
Who Is New?
Nebraska brought in three freshman and two transfers to offset the five lost to the portal.
Junior center Arek Angui comes to the Huskers via Auburn. Angui is an imposing presence and the tallest female Husker athlete ever at 6'9". She did not even start playing basketball until 2022 so she is still very raw, but you can't coach height and she has that in spades.
The other transfer-in is senior forward Edessa Noyan. The 6'3" Swede played previously for Indiana where she made 21 starts. In the exhibition game vs Wayne State, she scored 20 points in 17 minutes of work off the bench. She will provide a strong frontcourt rotation with Potts and freshman Ashlyn Koupal.
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Speaking of Koupal, the South Dakota product comes to Nebraska as one of the best women's basketball recruits in the country. The Jackrabbit in me is sorry she never seriously considered the successful program in her home state but the Husker in me is happy I still get to see her play. One characteristic she is noted for is consistency, which is unusual for a young player. She is expected to start for the Huskers from Day One.
Ava Miles is a 6'0" guard from Kansas City. Her high school recruiting rankings all list her as a small forward so I expect her to be the inside-out type player that Amy Williams likes to have in her offense.
Last, but not least, is 5'9" guard Maddi Stewart from Oklahoma. She is noted for being a strong, powerful player who has the potential to become a scoring threat from all over the floor.
Who Is Returning?
The Huskers are bringing back quite a bit of talent; some that have been stashed away, waiting to hit the hardwood again, and others who have made their marks the last few years.
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The aforementioned stashed away players are Natalie Potts and Allison Weidner, both returning to the floor after injuries and I can't tell you how excited I am for these two. Starting off with Potts, who took all last year to rehab after tearing her ACL early in the 2024-2025 season against North Alabama. Immediately, Potts brings high powered offense — whether that is making work of the post down low, or hitting shots from outside the arc, she brings another 15+ points to the team that we so desperately missed last year. What we also missed was more defense inside the paint. Guess who's here to help that? That's right, Natalie Potts. She's just as good defensively as she is offensively; grabbing rebounds, blocking shots, shooting passing lanes, she does it all. Having her back is going to make a big difference in how far this team can go this year.
Second player to make her return to the hardwood after sustaining three knee injuries, the first being in 2022, is Allison Weidner. Now, I'm going to be brutally honest here. After her last one in 2024, I was convinced she should have just tied up the shoes and hung them up. I just kept thinking there's no way she'll be the same after all of it and honestly, I was just more scared for her than anything else. However, here she is giving it another go, looking pretty impressive I might add. She played fairly well in the exhibition game against Wayne State. What Weidner brings is a spark of energy and the ability to get down hill to score. Pair that with her defense and ball handling skills, there's no need for any other explanation as to why I'm equally excited to have her back.
Also returning for her junior season is star guard Britt Prince, who once again had an amazing year, she averaged 17.9 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.5 steals in her sophomore season. Prince also made the Nancy Lieberman Award Midseason Top 10 list last year, while also being a part of the 50/40/90 club(FG%/3P%/FT%). What I'm most excited to see now that Potts is back is the Prince/Potts duo, that inside outside game was lethal a couple years ago and I can't wait for it to develop even more. I'd expect Prince to have even more of a leadership role going forward as the primary ball handler; however, Weinder may be able to help with some of that to get some of the focus off of Prince.
Our fourth returner is none other than 6'2 junior forward Amiah Hargrove. Now when I tell you Hargrove is someone I'm constistently so excited to watch every year, I mean it. It's like going to Disneyland every year and knowing what attractions are there, but they've made a couple improvements and the excitement never dulls. Hargrove was Nebraska's No. 2 scorer averaging 12.7 ppg and top rebounder with 5.5 rpg last year. I know I've talked about being excited a lot, it's just the truth, there is going to be a three-headed dragon that involves Natalie Potts, Amiah Hargrove, and Edessa Noyan..yeah, you could say I'm still very excited.
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One of the Big Ten's most consistent long-range shooters, Logan Nissley enters her fourth season as a Husker ranked sixth in school history with 179 career three-pointers. She needs just four more threes to move into Nebraska's career top five in that category. Although she has been challenged by foot injuries throughout her Nebraska career, her high basketball IQ and versatility make her a dangerous weapon in the Big Red arsenal. I am hoping to see more defensive plays from her this year and with Weinder back, it should open her up offensively as well.
The daughter of coach Amy Williams, Kennadi Williams, will also be making her return to Nebrasaka. Williams' tenacious defense and hustle plays is what you can count on when she hits the floor. Kennadi saw her first action on the court for the Big Red a year ago, averaging 2.4 points and 2.5 assists in 15 minutes per game while competing in all 32 contests off the bench.
Emily Fisher enters her second season as a Husker hoping to add toughness and versatility to the Nebraska lineup. Fisher, who spent her first two collegiate seasons at Maryland, is a gritty defender and aggressive rebounder who can play both inside and out in the Nebraska offense. Last season, Fisher averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds over 24 games off the bench for the Big Red.
