It has not been a fun week for the Nebraska women’s basketball team.
Despite a 85-48 win over North Alabama last Tuesday, it came with the price of losing reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Natalie Potts to the season with a torn ACL. With that sorrowing news at the front of their minds, the Huskers dropped their rivalry game to Creighton 80-74 for their eighth loss in the series out of the last nine years.
Alexis Markowski and five-star freshman Britt Prince formed the dynamic duo for NU as Markowski scored a team-high 26 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double while Prince did her best to replace the production left behind from Potts with 20 points and six rebounds.
As Nebraska comes to grips with Potts’ injury and form a gameplan without her in the lineup, NU takes on its third Summit League opponent of the year.
Here’s all you need to know as the Huskers welcome in Kansas City Tuesday night.
How to Follow Along
Kansas City Scout
Head Coach: Dionnah Jackson-Durrett | 3rd Season | 23-47 (.329) School Record | Assistant coaching stops at Texas, Mississippi State, George Mason and Southeast Missouri State.
2023-24 Record: 12-20 (3-13 Summit, T-8th) | Big East Defensive and Sportsmanship Player of the Year | 2x All-Newcomer Team, 1x All-Freshman Team | Did not qualify for the postseason.
All-Time Series: Nebraska Leads 5-1 (Nov. 14, 2017 last matchup, 80-60 NU)
Fun Fact: Kansas City head coach Dionnah Jackson-Durrett was a 2007 first-round WNBA draft pick of the Detroit Shock after an all-american career at Oklahoma.
Key Returners: Alayna Contreras, G, Jr. | Elauni Bennett, G, Soph. | Tamia Ugass, F, Sr. | Kelby Bannerman, F, Sr. | Lisa Thomas, G, Sr. | Emani Bennett, G, Soph.
Key Additions: Chloe Dallas, F/C, Jr. (Wabash Valley) | Ana Oliveira Dias, G, Soph. (Salt Lake CC) | Kaia Ponder, F, Jr. (Morgan State).
Key Departures: Nariyah Simmons, G, Sr. (Austin Peay) | Dominique Phillips, F (Eligibility).
Outlook: Dionnah Jackson-Durrett is a rising star in the coaching industry, but has struggled to get things going at Kansas City in her first head coaching stint. Coming over from Texas after three seasons as its associate head coach, Jackson-Durrett has only six conference wins, but led the Roos to the Summit League Championship semifinals in her first seasons after an upset win over No. 2 seed North Dakota State.
Expectations aren’t much higher heading into season three for Jackson-Durrett as Kansas City was picked eighth in the Summit League preseason poll despite a half dozen key returners from last season’s 12-20 team. Alayna Contreras was named to last year’s Summit League All-Newcomer Team and leads the team through six games with 12.5 points per game. Her and returning sophomore Emani Bennett form the scoring duo for the Roos as Bennett has averaged 12.3 points per game.
6-foot-3 forward Tamia Ugass has upped her average to 8.6 points per game with a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game while three other scorers add five points per game. The weakness of this Roos team is how one dimensional they’ve played through the first six games. They’ve only taken 60 shots from three-point land all season long, making only nine for 15% shooting.
Look for Husker head coach Amy Williams and her team to make a point of emphasis on perimeter defense to force Kansas City inside the three-point line. The battle in the post should also be entertaining between Markowski and Ugass. The key to victory for the Roos will be Ugass and whether they can penetrate to create scoring chances.
I don’t see that happening, however, as Nebraska should cruise by in this one.
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