Nebraska women’s basketball’s third and final win in Greece was its most dominant by far.
The Huskers won their first two exhibitions in Athens and Patras by margins of 52 and 63 points, respectively. Monday’s matchup in Crete was even more one-sided, as they led 72-8 at halftime and finished with a 124-18 victory.
Blowouts are common in these contests, with the Indiana women’s team winning both of its matchups in Greece by over 70 points. Regardless, the Huskers certainly took care of business. Fifth-year guard Jaz Shelley and true freshman forward Natalie Potts led the team with 20 points each, outscoring the opposition themselves. Potts had a double-double with 12 rebounds, and so did center Alexis Markowski, who scored 17 points and grabbed 21 boards.
Darian White (18 points), Logan Nissley (15 points) and Annika Stewart (13 points) rounded out the double-digit scorers. All 10 available players scored, each also coming up with at least one steal. The Huskers forced 38 total turnovers.
While the lack of competition inflated various numbers, the three games showed a glimpse of what likely will be Nebraska’s identity this coming season. The Huskers averaged 34.7 3-point attempts and 24.3 steals in the exhibitions. For context, they launched 25.2 shots per game from deep last year and averaged over seven steals. Nebraska will probably average around 25 threes again, but the team may want the forced turnovers to increase.
Head coach Amy Williams has wanted her teams to be strong defensively, and Nebraska was aggressive on that end in Greece, jumping passing lanes and ripping the ball out on drives in the two games that were live streamed. White, the team’s lone transfer portal addition, was a defensive player of the year in the Big Sky Conference. She had 10 steals in three exhibitions, beat out only by incoming freshmen Potts and Nissley, who had 11 each.
Markowski had a double-double in all three games, averaging 18 points and 16 rebounds. The Huskers had a visible size advantage in the first two matchups, and the fact that they outrebounded their opponent 68-11 on Monday suggests the same.
The games didn’t offer any notable clues about lineups for the team in the coming season. The only players to start all three games were Shelley and Markowski, the team’s top two players. Starting guard Allison Weidner was unavailable on the trip, as was sophomore forward Maggie Mendelson and freshman Jessica Petrie. All 10 available players started at least once, with White grabbing two starts.
White averaged 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the exhibitions, shooting 60.6% from the field. Offensively, the fifth-year transfer and expected starter showed her ability to get to the rim consistently, which will be needed for a team that no longer has Sam Haiby on the roster.
Nissley was praised for her shooting ability coming into the program, and took 19 of her 24 shot attempts from beyond the arc in Greece. She made seven of those attempts, while also hitting five of six free throws.
Potts didn’t have especially impressive efficiency numbers, but the forward had five assists in one exhibition and led fast break opportunities on a few occasions. Her and Petrie should have a good chance to make an impact as true freshmen with the departure of starting forward Isabelle Bourne this offseason.
Nebraska will be back from its overseas trip later this week, with its next competition being an exhibition game in late October before the start of the season.
