Huskers Tip Exhibition Play with Wayne State Oct. 23

The Nebraska women's basketball team will tip off its 2026-27 season by taking on Wayne State in exhibition play at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday, Oct. 23.

The Huskers bring back first-team All-Big Ten and Nancy Lieberman Award candidate Britt Prince along with returning starters Amiah Hargrove and Logan Nissley from last year's team that won an NCAA First Four game over Richmond at Durham, N.C.

Coach Amy Williams and the Huskers, who also look forward to the return of 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Natalie Potts and sixth-year guard Allison Weidner from injuries, will also feature three top-100 high school recruits including Nebraska's first McDonald's High School All-American Ashlyn Koupal. The two-time South Dakota High School Player of the Year is joined by fellow top-100 recruits Ava Miles (Kansas City, Mo.) and Maddi Stewart (Claremore, Okla.). 

Division I transfers Edessa Noyan (Indiana) and Arek Angui (Auburn) will add to a Husker roster that also includes Kennadi Williams and Emily Fisher.

The Huskers will make their 2026-27 debut against a Wildcat team led by second-year head coach Brian Ortmeier.

Ortmeier made the move to NCAA Division II Wayne State after leading Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa, to an 80-24 record in three seasons as head coach, including 15 wins over NAIA top-25 teams. He guided the Chargers to an NAIA semifinal appearance with a 30-6 record in 2024-25. Ortmeier, a native of Dodge, Neb., is a Nebraska graduate.

The Cats, who battled to a 10-18 record in Ortmeier's first season, will feature a new-look roster in 2026-27 that includes Eleanor Griffin (Lincoln Southwest), Stella Williams (Omaha Westview) and Avah Underwood (Council Bluffs St. Albert), along with Truman State transfer Sophia Hope and Valley City State transfer Abby Aslesen. Lena Evans (Oxford, Iowa), Ruth Dvoracek (Sioux Falls Christian), Courtney Franck (Mount Vernon, Iowa) and Jadyn Kor (Pipestone, Minn.) round out a list of nine newcomers.

The 2025-26 Wildcats included Northeast Nebraska freshmen Sammie and Cassie Allen (Crofton), but missed 6-3 junior center Brooklyn Kruse (Wayne) who sat out with an injury.

The game will be Nebraska's first meeting with Wayne State in exhibition play since Nov. 2, 2014, when the Huskers rolled to an 84-43 win over the then-No. 6 Wildcats in front of a then-Nebraska exhibition-record crowd of 4,948 fans at PBA.