ROSEMONT, Ill. — Nebraska women’s basketball has focused on two things this offseason: improving on defense and getting better in late-game and end-of-clock situations.
The primary theme from both head coach Amy Williams and players Britt Prince and Logan Nissley at Wednesday’s Big Ten Media Days was defense.
“It was something we definitely felt like needed to be addressed when we really took a step back and evaluated,” Williams said of the defensive end. “We feel like this is something we really need to address is putting ourselves in positions that we can have success and win games on that side of the ball.”
Per Fox Sports, Nebraska’s adjusted defensive rating was 95.4, good for 273rd out of 363 Division I teams. The Huskers allowed an average of 67.3 points per game, 258th nationally.
“It has been a primary focus; there has been more than one ‘camp defense’ practices,” Williams said. “I think that they have really bought into that and they have wanted to shift the approach from feeling this pressure of, ‘I’ve got to score this much in order for our team to have success,’ and instead walk onto that court feeling like, ‘I’m about to lock you down and the rest will take care of itself.’”
This offseason the Huskers have also been holding each other accountable to standards. At the top of the list: embracing the hard.
“Not just get through the hard, not just handle the hard, not just find a way to work through it but find a way to embrace it,” Williams said.
The Huskers have pushed their coach to make practices even harder.
“It could be the highest load practice we’ve had all year and they are like, ‘That’s all you’ve got, Coach?’” Williams said. “They are begging for a little bit more, not asking for things to be a little easy … really challenging themselves at a higher level.”
Britt Prince was named to the preseason All-Big Ten Team, and after a strong sophomore season, the expectations have ratcheted up for the junior guard out of Elkhorn (Neb.) North.
Where Prince thinks she can improve the most is, you guessed it, on the defensive end.
“Defense is what starts it all; you’ve got to play good defense to be able to win games,” Prince said. “Buying into that aspect will be huge for our whole team and me; that’s been something we’ve been really emphasizing in the offseason. Defensively, that is something I’ve been working on a lot — keeping people in front, being more steady on defense too.”
Senior Logan Nissley echoed what her coach and Prince said about defense being a priority. It’s been an offseason with more intentionality and discipline on the defensive end, she said.
The Huskers had nine games last season where they were either tied or found themselves in a one- or two-possession game in the last four or five minutes. Those situations and learning how to handle those in the offseason is something the Huskers hope will help them in the 2026-27 campaign.
“We did a lot of situational stuff in practice, just trying to prepare ourselves for whatever situation comes at us, that we can be prepared,” Nissley said. “Coach has what she is drawing up, but our coaches can’t be out on the court with us. So really being disciplined and focused and finding those areas that we can’t really make a mistake. There is very little margin for error in the Big Ten and just across the country in general. Really finding ways we can pinpoint those different things and work on them.”
There is more to it than effort or focus to win the close games.
“That’s definitely been a big emphasis for us throughout the offseason, just working on a ton of different situations, execution, talking through it, going through those mistakes now so that when it comes to that time in a game we know how to do it and how to deal with it,” Prince said. “Hopefully we will be a lot better at that.”
New Pieces
Nebraska added old and new pieces to the puzzle this offseason. The addition of transfers is normal in today’s age of college sports. The Huskers added two, 6-foot-9 center Arek Angui (Auburn) and 6-3 forward Syla Noyan (Indiana).
Veteran player Natalie Potts is ready to return after missing the 2025-26 season while recovering from the torn ACL she suffered in late November of her sophomore season. Allison Weidner is also healthy and ready to contribute this season. Those are two big pieces that the team missed last season.
The three freshmen, five-star Ashlyn Koupal (Wagner, S.D.), Ava Miles (Kansas City, Mo.) and Maddi Stewart (Claremore Okla.) make up a 2026 class ranked 11th nationally by 247Sports.
“They’ve been great; they bring a lot of intensity, I think, that we’ve needed, especially on the defensive end of the floor,” Nissley said. “The three freshmen we have and the two transfers just bring a unique perspective … They’ve been awesome to bring on the court and I think they bring a unique style of play. I think we are putting the puzzle pieces really well together.”
The biggest addition may be on the coaching staff with new assistant Brad Fischer.
Fischer spent the past 14 seasons building Division III UW-Oshkosh into a national power, taking the Titans to 11 NCAA Division III tournaments with Final Four bids in 2025 and 2026
“What an awesome addition he’s been to our coaching staff,” Williams said. “The success he’s had as a head coach and the way that he looks at the game and the way he is willing to be able to challenge with different ideas or thoughts of, ‘Hey, maybe we need to not keep bumping this situational stuff to tomorrow’s practice, but we need to get it in today.’ I’ve just really been pleased with the way that he’s complemented the coaching staff that I currently have.
“He’s just really calm, kind of a calm presence that is very confident. We are going to lean on that and the way that he complements my fire and energy and my staff that are kind of woo. He just really complements us well. I’m going to lean heavily on his head coaching experience, just his basketball mind and the way that he looks at game planning.”
The veteran Nissley agreed with her coach that Fischer has been a positive addition to the staff.
“We bring in a great new assistant coach in Brad Fischer and he’s worked really hard with our posts, so we’ve seen a lot of great development in the shot blocking area, obviously defensively but also offensively too,” Nissley said.
Fans will get their first look at the Huskers on Oct. 23 as the Huskers host Wayne State for an exhibition.
