What can Alexis Markowski and Britt Prince do in their one season at Nebraska together?

LINCOLN — She’s played in 101 games and will top 100 starts this season for her hometown team, and she’ll almost certainly set the school record for double-doubles as she tries to lead the Nebraska women’s basketball team to its third NCAA tournament in four years. NU center Alexis Markowski wants a senior year worth remembering. “I’ve lived in Lincoln my whole life and after this season I won’t be living in Lincoln any more, so my life will be changing,” the Pius graduate said at Big Ten Media Days.

“But I’m trying to not think about that. I’m trying to put all my energy and graduating from college and ending with a bang.” Markowski and the Huskers just might get that bang, too, if two more homegrown stars have any say.



Humphrey native Allison Weidner returns to the court after missing 22 months of play with knee injuries. She’s been good in workouts, coach Amy Williams said, and has grown as a vocal leader. And as Markowski wraps up her collegiate career, Elkhorn North graduate Britt Prince begins hers at NU.

The five-star guard who won four state titles with the Wolves could start Monday or get extended minutes as No. 23 Nebraska opens its 2024-25 season vs. UNO.

Prince started NU’s exhibition last week, finishing with 12 points and three steals. She’ll share time with Weidner as the team’s lead “pirate” defender and Callin Hake as the point guard on offense. Nebraska’s most-ballyhooed recruit since Taylor Kissinger, Prince has never lost at Pinnacle Bank Arena and will try to help Nebraska improve on its 23-12 record last season, which ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“I think she’s capable of being Big Ten freshman of the year,” Hake said of Prince. Markowski won that award, as did Husker forward Natalie Potts last season. Williams has had a “front row seat” to watching Prince through years of recruiting evaluations.

“I had no idea just how precise her footwork is,” Williams said. “We can run her off a screen from this side or that side. Most guards, I’ll ask ‘em, hey, would you prefer coming off the ball screen going to your right or your left? And she says ‘doesn’t matter to me.

’ She legitimately doesn’t have a weakness there.” Prince is part of a deep, competitive backcourt that includes Weidner, Hake, defensive stopper Kendall Moriarty, Florida guard transfer Alberte Rimdal, and sophomore Logan Nissley, a fearless 3-point shooter who is still getting up to speed after offseason foot surgery. “It’s created competition in practice, and as much as that can be uncomfortable, iron sharpens iron,” Williams said.

“And they’re making my job very difficult on decisions about lineups and rotations.” NU’s frontcourt is more set. Potts returns after a surprisingly strong freshman year in which she averaged 10.

2 points and 5.5 rebounds, while Markowski —15.7 points and 10.

5 rebounds in 2023-24 — remains the heart of the Huskers’ offense. She has 40 career double-doubles — tied for first in NU history — and even when Markowski merely touches the ball in the post, good things happen, whether she scores or passes out of a double team. Markowski said she spent the offseason working on her footwork and skillset for finishing shots around the basket — last year, she made 49.

7% of her two-point shots. Markowski also wants to improve her accuracy from 3-point range, where she made 29.6% last season.

Nebraska made 33.3% as a team in 2023-2024, running hot and cold from beyond the arc. When making 10 or more 3s, NU had a 10-2 record — with losses only to Caitlin Clark’s Iowa squad.

Often, point guard Jaz Shelley, a two-time All-Big Ten player, was the one making bushels of 3s. She’s graduated, leaving a hole to fill for her shooting and passing creativity. Weidner can fill some of that role, and be an aggressive driver to the hoop.

And Prince, though young, has the potential for high-scoring games. Like many freshmen, Williams said, Prince sometimes get caught between doing the correct thing and just doing her thing. It may surprise some which version Williams prefers to see.

“Right now, she’s trying to run the play, trying to do everything that’s required for us to execute offense, and she’s pretty good at that,” Williams said. “But there’s times I’m trying to encourage her to ‘screw the play, just go play basketball!’ Just go play.” Nebraska will need the whole to be greater than its parts in non-conference road trips to No.

21 Creighton and Georgia Tech and during a grueling Big Ten slate that includes games at No. 3 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No.

18 Maryland and No. 25 Indiana. A few wins at those venues would put NU in line for another NCAA berth, which would be Williams’ fourth at Nebraska.

Currently, the Huskers are predicted as a No. 6 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology projection. The Big Dance is four months away.

For now, Markowski will take each game as it comes on a season-long farewell tour. “I’m just trying to enjoy my last season of college basketball and being the best player I can be — and leader for this team,” Markowski said. “It’s flying by, it really is.

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