Samford Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 SoCon) 10 - Aubrey Blankenship - 6-0 - RSo. - G/F - 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 44 - Emily (Bowman) Snoddy - 6-5 - RSr. - F - 2.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg 1 - Jada Knight - 5-7 - Gr. - G - 8.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 5 - Francie Morris - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 12.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg 11 - Briana Rivera - 5-5 - So. - G - 18.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg Off the Bench 22 - Sierra Godbolt - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 8.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg 3 - Kaylee Yarbrough - 5-9 - Fr. - F - 7.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 12 - Carla Baguda - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 4.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg 2 - Avary Brewer - 5-7 - Fr. - G - 2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg 21 - Sydney Martin - 5-10 - RFr. - G - 1.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 20 - Alyssa Tarpley - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg 4 - Camryn Register - 5-7 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 32 - Yael Maayan - 6-1 - So. - …
Samford Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 SoCon) 10 - Aubrey Blankenship - 6-0 - RSo. - G/F - 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 44 - Emily (Bowman) Snoddy - 6-5 - RSr. - F - 2.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg 1 - Jada Knight - 5-7 - Gr. - G - 8.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 5 - Francie Morris - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 12.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg 11 - Briana Rivera - 5-5 - So. - G - 18.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg Off the Bench 22 - Sierra Godbolt - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 8.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg 3 - Kaylee Yarbrough - 5-9 - Fr. - F - 7.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 12 - Carla Baguda - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 4.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg 2 - Avary Brewer - 5-7 - Fr. - G - 2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg 21 - Sydney Martin - 5-10 - RFr. - G - 1.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 20 - Alyssa Tarpley - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg 4 - Camryn Register - 5-7 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 32 - Yael Maayan - 6-1 - So. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg **Head Coach: **Matt Wise (Transylvania, 2011) First Season at Samford (1-0); First Season Overall (1-0)
Scouting the Samford Bulldogs • First-year head coach Matt Wise brings Samford to Lincoln after leading the Bulldogs to a 75-53 win over NCAA D-II Montevallo on Education Day at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham Monday.
• Sophomore guard Briana Rivera scored a game-high 18 points to lead three Bulldog starters in double figures. The 5-5 transfer from Austin Peay hit 5-of-14 three-point attempts.
• Redshirt sophomore Aubrey Blankenship added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, while freshman guard Francie Morris pitched in 12 points and six boards.
• Redshirt senior Emily (Bowman) Snoddy, who was a 2025 SoCon All-Defensive selection, contributed 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, and a pair of blocked shots for the Bulldogs.
• Freshman Carla Baguda, a 6-2 forward, also grabbed 11 rebounds and notched three blocks off the bench to go along with four points.
• Graduate guard Jada Knight produced eight points and a game-high five assists in a starting role, while senior Sierra Godbolt also put up eight points off the bench.
• (Bowman) Snoody (22 games, 9.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg), Godbolt (17 games, 5.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg) and Blankenship (16 games, 5.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg) were part-time starters alongside current Husker Claire Johnson (14 games) for the Bulldogs last season. Johnson was Samford’s leading scorer (12.2 ppg) and a second-team All-SoCon selection in 2024-25.
• Alyssa Tarpley (2.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg), Jada Knight (1.2 ppg) and Martha Bishop were also teammates of Johnson a year ago, while Matt Wise, Sally Higgins, Charity Brown and Walker Martin were all on staff under then-Head Coach Carley Kuhns, who completed her sixth season a year ago.
• Samford finished with a 12-19 record a year ago that included a 7-7 mark in the Southern Conference.
• Following Saturday’s game at Nebraska, Samford will head to Gainesville to face Florida. Coach Matt Wise’s mother, Mary, was the head coach of the Gator volleyball team from 1991 to 2024. She led Florida to 19 SEC regular-season titles and 12 conference tournament titles on its way to eight NCAA Final Four appearances in her career. She guided Florida to the national championship game in 2003 and 2017. Nebraska won the 2017 national championship over the Gators, 3-1, in Kansas City, after Florida defeated the Huskers in their second match of the season.
• Samford plays non-conference games against other power conference teams at Alabama (Nov. 19), at Minnesota (Dec. 1) and at Mississippi State (Dec. 28).
Nebraska vs. Samford Series • Saturday’s game will be just the second meeting in history between Nebraska and Samford in women’s basketball. The Huskers worked their way to a 71-46 win over the Bulldogs at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Dec. 10, 2022.
• Callin Hake is the only active Husker who played in the first meeting with Samford, knocking down a three-pointer while adding two rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench as a true freshman.
• Graduate Allison Weidner, who is redshirting this season, posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five steals as a starter during her sophomore season in the game. Jaz Shelley added 15 points and six assists, while Alexis Markowski led the Big Red with 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots against the Bulldogs.
• Current Bulldog Alyssa Tarpley was a starter in the first meeting, managing three rebounds, two steals and an assist in 27 minutes. Emily (Bowman) Snoddy scored five points and grabbed three rebounds along with a steal in 11 minutes off the bench.
Huskers Celebrate Alumni Weekend • Nebraska will honor its women’s basketball alumni at halftime of Saturday’s game with Samford.
• More than 40 former players from across all decades of Husker women’s basketball are expected to attend the festivities.
• The attendees are slated to include 11 of Nebraska’s 1,000-point scorers, including Nebraska Athletic Hall of Famers and conference players of the year Karen Jennings and Maurtice Ivy, former WNBA draft picks Nicole Kubik and Kiera Hardy, four-time All-Big Ten choice Alexis Markowski, Amy Stephens, Nafeesah Brown-Morrow, Cory (Montgomery) Barrett, Dominique Kelley-Johnson, Kate Galligan and Nebraska’s first 1,000-point scorer Jan Crouch.
Nebraska By The Numbers • Callin Hake (100) played the 100th game of her Nebraska career in the Huskers’ season-opening win over Northwestern State. Hake pumped in 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field while adding three assists and three steals against the Lady Demons.
• Kennadi Williams (67) scored the first points of her Nebraska career with her layup midway through the third quarter of Monday’s win over Northwestern State. The Husker crowd, which included nearly 4,000 junior high students for the Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally, erupted as the Huskers went to a timeout with 67 on the scoreboard. The celebration for 67 lasted two solid minutes through a timeout, before Williams sank a free throw to complete the and-1.
• Emily Fisher enjoyed a strong debut for the Huskers. The junior from Libertyville, Ill., matched her collegiate career high with nine points, while also tying her career high with three assists. She set a new career best with a game-high four steals. Fisher spent her first two seasons at Maryland.
• Britt Prince (403/120) produced 403 points and 120 rebounds as a true freshman point guard for the Huskers. Nebraska’s WNBA first-round draft picks Lindsey Moore and Nicole Kubik did not achieve either 300 points or 100 rebounds as true freshmen starting point guards for the Huskers.
• Prince (51) recorded her 51st steal of the season against Louisville in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. She became the first Husker freshman since Nicole Kubik (1996-97) to record 50 steals.
Bricken for Chicken Back for 2025-26 • Starting at Saturday’s men’s and women’s basketball games at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the popular Bricken for Chicken from Lincoln’s local Chick-fil-A restaurants is back for the 2025-26 season.
• If a Husker basketball opposing shooter misses back-to-back free throws in a trip to the line in the second half of a home game, fans attending the game can win a free chicken sandwich, courtesy of the North Star Crossing, SouthPointe Pavilions and 48th & O Street Chick-Fil-A restaurants in Lincoln.
• In order to take advantage of the promotion, fans must download the Chick-fil-A app before attending the game, cheer loud during opponent free throws, celebrate when the opponent misses back-to-back free throws, and claim the free Original Chicken Sandwich in the “Rewards” tab on the Chick-fil-A app.
• The free sandwich must be claimed from the participating Lincoln Chick-fil-A restaurants within three business days of the game date.
Prince Named to Nancy Lieberman Watch List • Nebraska’s Britt Prince was named to the list of 20 women’s college basketball players on the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Preseason Watch List on Monday, Oct. 27. The Lieberman Award was the first of the Naismith Starting 5 award watch lists announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Fan voting for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award is open at http://www.hoophallawards.com.
• Prince, a 5-11 sophomore from Omaha, Neb., returns for her second season at Nebraska after averaging 13.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals as a true freshman.
• She opened 2025-26 with 19 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal in a win over Northwestern State (Nov. 3).
• In an exhibition win over Mount Marty (Oct. 24), Prince notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists to go along with five rebounds.
• Prince, who was a two-time Gatorade and MaxPreps Nebraska High School Player of the Year at Elkhorn North, earned Big Ten All-Freshman honors while leading the Huskers to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
• In the NCAA Tournament, Prince led the Big Red with 14 points and six assists against Louisville, after powering Nebraska to two wins at the Big Ten Tournament by averaging 17.0 points and 5.3 assists over three games, including a career-high-tying 24 points against Big Ten Tournament champion and NCAA No. 1 seed UCLA.
• Prince was the USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 21) after going for 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a career-high six steals in a road win at Iowa (Jan. 16), when she hit a career-high five three-pointers.
Potts Earns Spot on Katrina McClain Watch List • Nebraska’s Natalie Potts was included on the list of 20 women’s college basketball players named to the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List on Thursday, Oct. 30. The McClain Award was the fourth of the Naismith Starting 5 award watch lists announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Fan voting for the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award is open at http://www.hoophallawards.com.
• Potts, a 6-2 redshirt sophomore from O’Fallon, Mo., returns for her third season at Nebraska in 2025-26. She was the 2023-24 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the 2024-25 campaign. Potts was averaging team bests of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds through the first four games prior to her injury. She was shooting 69.4 percent from the field, including 72.7 percent (8-11) from three-point range to lead the Big Red to a No. 19 national ranking and a 4-0 start.
• In 40-minute production, Potts put up eye-popping numbers of 28.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per 40 to rank among the best players in the Big Ten through the first four games last season.
• In 2023-24, Potts led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding (5.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.489), while ranking second among league freshmen in scoring (10.2 ppg) and free throw percentage (.829) in 2023-24. She started all 35 games for the 23-12 Huskers, who advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Potts, who won 8-of-15 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards during the regular season, was the most consistent freshman in the conference from start to finish. She won the inaugural weekly honor on Nov. 13, 2023, before claiming the final two freshman awards on Feb. 26 and March 4. She won at least one weekly honor during all five months of the season. Her eight weekly awards matched the total of fellow Nebraska Big Ten Freshman of the Year Alexis Markowski in 2022.
• Potts, who also claimed an honorable-mention All-Big Ten award from the conference media, was a unanimous choice on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by the conference coaches.
• After sustaining her knee injury against North Alabama (Nov. 19, 2024), Potts underwent knee surgery on Dec. 4. She continues to rehab with hopes of returning to the court for the Huskers mid-season.
Husker Hot Takes • Nebraska earned its 17th all-time NCAA Tournament bid in 2025, including its 11th trip since 2007 (19 seasons). The Huskers also recorded their 20th 20-win campaign in program history including the third in the past four seasons under Head Coach Amy Williams.
• Nebraska earned its third NCAA Tournament bid in the last four years despite playing the final 28 games without 2024 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year Natalie Potts, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against North Alabama (Nov. 19). Potts was averaging team bests of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds through the first four games prior to her injury. The Huskers also played the final 17 games without fourth-year guard Allison Weidner, who was a starter as a freshman on Nebraska’s 2022 NCAA Tournament team and at the start of her sophomore season in 2022-23.
• Britt Prince claimed a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition from both the coaches and the media when awards were announced by the conference on March 4. Prince ranked second among the Huskers in scoring (13.4 ppg), while leading the Big Red in assists (3.8 apg) and steals (1.7 spg), which ranked 13th in the Big Ten. All six of her 20-point performances came on the road, while two of her three career-high eight-rebound efforts and both of her career-best eight-assist performances happened away from PBA.
• Prince, who was the USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 21), is the most recent of four 2024-25 Huskers to earn Big Ten All-Freshman honors, including Alexis Markowski (2022 Freshman of the Year), Natalie Potts (2024 Freshman of the Year) and Logan Nissley (2024).
• Nebraska posted six NET Top 50 wins over No. 21 Michigan State, at No. 24 Iowa, at No. 26 Maryland, over No. 29 Illinois, No. 37 Minnesota and over No. 41 Oregon.
• All 12 of NU’s losses came to NET Top 50 teams, including seven away from home - at No. 5 UCLA (twice), at No. 6 USC, at No. 29 Illinois, at No. 30 Creighton, at No. 31 Georgia Tech, at No. 34 Indiana and vs. No. 35 Louisville (NCAA) - along with home losses to No. 18 Ohio State, No. 24 Iowa, No. 25 Michigan and No. 44 Washington.
• Alexis Markowski closed her outstanding Nebraska career with team bests of 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in 2024-25. The four-time All-Big Ten center set Nebraska’s career double-doubles record (53) and finished second in rebounds (1,220) while ranking seventh at NU in career points (1,902).
Huskers Celebrate Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally • Nebraska’s Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally was held at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Monday, Nov. 3 ahead of the Husker women’s basketball season-opening win over Northwestern State.
• A record 83 schools from around the state are registered to participate with more than 3,900 students and accompanying adults attending the event.
• Last season, the pep rally featured over 3,800 students and accompanying adults from 75 schools around Nebraska. The crowd of 8,106, which included a group from Hemingford (6-hour drive, 385 miles) watched the Huskers roll to an 88-48 win over Omaha. It was the second-largest season-opening crowd in school history.
• In 2023-24, the pep rally welcomed more than 3,300 students and accompanying adults from 62 middle grades schools from across the state of Nebraska.
• The pep rally helped the Huskers attract the third-largest opening-day crowd in program history with 7,065 fans on hand at PBA, trailing only the 9,750 fans on hand for the opening game in the history of the building against UCLA in 2013.
• The event, which is co-sponsored by the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame, features positive messages from Husker student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators. The 2025 Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally marked the seventh time since 2013 (also 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) the event was paired with Nebraska’s season-opening women’s basketball game.
• The 2022 Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally included 2,200 students and more than 200 accompanying staff members from 42 schools across Nebraska for the opener with Omaha.
• The Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally, which is focused on 4th through 8th grade students across the state of Nebraska, not only includes inspiring messages from current and former Nebraska student-athletes and staff members, it also includes complimentary pizza from Nebraska Athletics through generous support from the Sizemore family and water provided by Pepsi for students and accompanying school staff members.
• The 2025 Pep Rally began at 9:30 a.m., and included messages from Coach Amy Williams, Huskers Jessica Petrie and Logan Nissley, along with volleyball players Taylor Landfair and Rebekah Allick, football players Derek Branch and Aidan Flege, 2025 NCAA Champion Ridge Lovett and All-American Caleb Smith from the Husker wrestling team, and softball Coach Rhonda Revelle and National Player of the Year Jordyn Bahl. The rally concluded at 10:45 a.m., prior to Nebraska and Northwestern State taking the court for pregame warm-ups ahead of their noon tip-off.
Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rallies at Women’s Basketball 2025 - 8,004 (attendance) / 3,900 (students/staff) - 83 schools) vs. Northwestern State 2024 - 8,106 (attendance) / 3,800 (students/staff - 75 schools) vs. Omaha 2023 - 7,065 (attendance) / 3,300 (students/staff - 62 schools) vs. Northwestern State 2022 - 6,233 (attendance) / 2,500 (students/staff - 40 schools) vs. Omaha 2021 - 4,476 (attendance) / 1,600 (students/staff - 30 schools) vs. Maine 2019 - 5,250 (attendance) / 2,000 (students/staff - 27 schools) vs. Alabama A&M 2013 - 9,750 (attendance) / 4,000 (students/staff - 45 schools) vs. UCLA
Husker History of Home-Opening Success • Nebraska owns a history of season-opening success on the Huskers’ home court. NU improved to 49-3 in home season openers with its 103-46 win over Omaha on Nov. 3, 2025.
• NU is 12-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in season openers with its lone loss coming on Nov. 7, 2018, with an 83-77 setback to Drake. In the first regular-season game in the history of Pinnacle Bank Arena, Nebraska powered its way to a 77-49 win over UCLA on Nov. 8, 2013, in front of a Husker opening-day record crowd of 9,750.
• Nebraska’s only season-opening home losses have come to Drake (2018), South Dakota State (Nov. 19, 2005) and Kansas (Nov. 21, 1980).
• Nebraska is 179-26 (.873) over 53 seasons in its first four home contests, including 44-7 in Game No. 2, 41-10 in Game No. 3 and 45-6 in Game No. 4.
Potts Still Working to Return in 2025-26 • Natalie Potts was off to one of the best starts by any player in the Big Ten through the first two weeks of the 2024-25 season before suffering a season-ending knee injury midway through the second quarter of a win over North Alabama (Nov. 19). The 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year carried team-leading averages of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while hitting 69.4 percent of her shots from the field, including a sizzling 72.7 percent (8-11) from three-point range to lead the Big Ten while helping the No. 21/19 Huskers to a 4-0 start.
• In 40-minute production, Potts put up eye-popping numbers of 28.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per 40 to rank among the best players in the Big Ten.
• Potts underwent surgery on Dec. 4 and and has three seasons of eligibility remaining. The redshirt sophomore is still working in her rehabilitation and hoping to get back on the court with the Huskers midway through the 2025-26 season.
• The 6-2 forward from O’Fallon, Mo., led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding (5.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.489), while ranking second among league freshmen in scoring (10.2 ppg) and free throw percentage (.829) in 2023-24. She started all 35 games for the 23-12 Huskers, who advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Potts, who won 8-of-15 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards during the regular season, was the most consistent freshman in the conference from start to finish. She won the inaugural weekly honor on Nov. 13, before claiming the final two freshman awards on Feb. 26 and March 4. She won at least one weekly honor during all five months of the season. Her eight weekly awards matched the total of fellow Nebraska Big Ten Freshman of the Year Alexis Markowski in 2022.
• Potts, who also claimed an honorable-mention All-Big Ten award from the conference media, was a unanimous choice on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by the conference coaches.
Huskers Earn Votes in Preseason Polls • Nebraska earned two votes in the Associated Press (Oct. 14) and USA Today/WBCA (Oct. 23) Preseason Top 25 polls. The Huskers matched Big Ten counterpart Illinois at the equivalent of No. 35 in the AP rankings, while coming in at No. 38 in the USA Today/WBCA poll.
• Nebraska is one of 11 Big Ten teams to receive votes in the AP Preseason Top 25, joining No. 3 UCLA, No. 10 Maryland, No. 13 Michigan, No. 18 USC, No. 21 Iowa, No. 23 Michigan State, No. 26 Washington, No. 27 Ohio State and No. 30 Minnesota.
• The Huskers were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for seven consecutive weeks to open the 2024-25 season, before slipping out of the rankings Dec. 23, following a 72-61 road loss at then-No. 17 Georgia Tech (Dec. 21).
• The Huskers received votes in the Dec. 30, Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 AP polls, before returning to the USA Today/WBCA Top 25 (Jan. 21). NU received votes in the Jan. 27/28 polls.
• In 2023-24, Nebraska finished No. 25 in the final NCAA NET rankings.