Huskers Open Williams Era with Loaded Schedule

By Jeff Griesch
Huskers.com

The Nebraska women's basketball team will take aim at its sixth consecutive postseason tournament appearance in 2016-17, under the direction of first-year head coach Amy Williams.

The former Husker guard (1995-98) who played on a pair of NCAA Tournament teams at Nebraska before embarking on a coaching career, has plenty of experience coaching successful teams to postseason runs at all levels.

In fact the two-time Summit League Coach of the Year at South Dakota (2015, 2016) led her Summit League regular-season champion Coyotes to a 32-6 record and the 2016 Postseason WNIT Championship before taking the job as Nebraska's 10th women's basketball coach on April 11, 2016.

Now, after just over six months of leading her alma mater through a time of transition, Williams will be on the sideline at Pinnacle Bank Arena leading the Huskers in the 2016 Preseason WNIT to tip-off what promises to be the most challenging regular-season schedule in school history.

"There certainly aren't many breaks in our schedule," Williams said. "The first three or hopefully four games we play in the WNIT will all be against 2016 postseason teams who have a majority, if not all of their starters back. After a tough home game against in-state foe Omaha, projected to be one of the top Summit League teams this season, we will play four straight games against ACC and Pac-12 teams with three of those coming away from home. We return to play Drake, a team that essentially returns everyone from a 23-win team a year ago. A home game against a very scrappy San Jose State team is followed by the difficult trip to in-state rival Creighton. We round out our non-conference schedule by playing defending national champion UConn at home on December 21st."

Williams also knows the Big Ten doesn't offer many breaks either.

"All eight of our home games in Big Ten play will come against teams that went to the postseason a year ago, and 13 of our 16 games overall in the conference will be against postseason teams," Williams said. "Anytime 22 of your 29 opponents have proven to be worthy of postseason play, you know you face a difficult challenge. However, the greatest accomplishments always start with difficult challenges and great opportunity. We are excited to have many opportunities to prove ourselves."

Williams, who brought her entire staff with her from South Dakota to help speed the transition for Nebraska's players, knew the Huskers would face many challenges before taking the floor for the 2016-17 season.

Williams has never shyed away from a challenge. A biology and math major at Nebraska, then-Amy Gusso spent her first year of college at Nebraska in 1993-94 as a student. A two-time All-Black Hills Conference point guard at Spearfish, S.D., (Gusso) Williams earned a spot on the team as a walk-on to the Nebraska program coached by Angela Beck in 1994-95. She played sparingly and battled a leg injury her first two years in the program before Beck left Nebraska to coach in the fledgling ABL for the San Jose Lasers.

(Gusso) Williams then had to earn a spot on the team for new head coach Paul Sanderford. She overcame that challenge to be a four-year letterwinner and an academic All-Big 12 selection for the Huskers.

"I came to the University of Nebraska as a walk-on student-athlete and scratched and clawed and fought and gave everything I had inside of me," Williams said. "Eventually I earned a scholarship. It is something that has been instilled in me, that blue collar, bring your lunch pail to work every day and find a way to just outwork people. That is something that I definitely feel like was instilled in me at the University of Nebraska."

Williams said the experience of putting in the work to improve translated into pride and confidence as both a player and as a young woman who chose to move into the coaching profession instead of a career in medicine.

"It gave me an indescribable feeling of pride as a student-athlete when I got to wear that Husker jersey across my chest," Williams said. "I'm so excited to have the opportunity to return and be a part of this again."

Williams has continued to follow the Nebraska program during her coaching stops, beginning with her graduate assistant position at Nebraska-Kearney (1999-2000) before earning her first full-time coaching position as an assistant at Texas-San Antonio in 2000-01.

She faced the Huskers as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State from 2002 to 2005, before assisting at Tulsa from 2005 to 2007.

Williams then embarked on the enormous challenge of taking a former junior college program at Rogers State into its first four-year season as an NAIA school in 2007-08. By 2011-12, Williams had built the Claremore, Okla., school into an NAIA power with a trip to the Elite Eight.

She returned to her home state of South Dakota to lead USD to four extremely successful years from 2012-13 to 2015-16 capped by last year's 32-6 season. Williams led the Coyotes to four consecutive trips to the Summit League Tournament Championship Game, including a victory in 2014 that resulted in an NCAA Tournament berth.

Because Williams has faced challenges head on at every level, she has a good grasp of the challenges she is facing in her return to Nebraska, and she is embracing them fully.
Williams and her staff spent the offseason working to build trust with the returning Nebraska players while honestly assessing strengths and weaknesses.

At the same time, Williams evaluated the talent and depth on the Nebraska roster and began to fill some gaps.

A primary challenge for the Huskers is to find the right combination to replace 2015-16 starting guards Rachel Theriot, Kyndal Clark and Natalie Romeo in the Big Red backcourt.

Nebraska enters the season with senior guard Esther Ramacieri, who owns four career starts, alongside junior guards Jasmine Cincore and Emily Wood, who have combined for six starts. Sophomore Maddie Simon added five starts as a true freshman in 2015-16, but battled several injuries to miss 10 games during the season.

“Some will point to our lack of experience in the guard positions as an area of concern," Williams said. "However, we have been pleased with the way our guards are embracing the opportunity and looking to rise to the occasion.”

Williams wasted little time in adding to Nebraska's backcourt upon her arrival in Lincoln. During the summer, the Huskers added senior transfer Janay Morton and sophomore transfer Bria Stallworth. Nebraska's 2016 state high school player of the year Rylie Cascio Jensen also made the decision to follow Coach Williams to Nebraska from South Dakota. Morton, who was an All-Mid-American Conference guard at Eastern Michigan, will have to sit out the 2016-17 season in order to play one season for the Huskers in 2017-18.

A 5-10 guard from the Minneapolis area, Morton was a third-team All-MAC choice and a member of the MAC All-Defensive Team in 2016, after earning a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2014.

Stallworth, a 5-6 guard from Chicago, was a member of the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team as a freshman at UMass. She led all A-10 freshmen in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg) in 2015-16 before coming to Nebraska.

Stallworth must also sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules alongside Morton.
Cascio Jensen, a 5-10 guard from Fremont, Neb., averaged 22.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game to lead the Tigers to the Class A state quarterfinals as a senior in 2016.

She is joined as a freshman in the Husker backcourt by 2016 Wisconsin High School Player of the Year Hannah Whitish.

Whitish, a 5-9 guard from Barneveld, was a three-time first-team All-Wisconsin selection and led Barneveld to four consecutive appearances in the WIAA Division 5 state championship game. Whitish scored over 2,000 points during her high school career, including 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.5 steals per game as a senior. She also hit 48 percent of her three-pointers for the Golden Eagles as a senior.

The Huskers added another talented guard in 6-1 wing Nicea Eliely. The No. 25 guard in the class of 2016 according to ESPN, Eliely averaged 21.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game as a senior at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs.
Another primary challenge is to find a combination of healthy post players around returning starters Jessica Shepard and Allie Havers inside.

Shepard was Nebraska's first-ever freshman first-team all-conference selection in 2015-16. The 6-4 forward from Fremont averaged Nebraska freshman records of 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game on her way to becoming Nebraska's first Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Shepard, who won a conference-record 10 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards, set the Nebraska freshman and Pinnacle Bank Arena records with 35 points in a win over Northern Arizona on Dec. 19, 2015.

She then matched that scoring total on her way to becoming the first player in Nebraska history to produce a 30-point, 20-rebound game in a win at Michigan on Jan. 24, 2016. Her 35-point, 20-rebound game against the Wolverines was one of a Nebraska freshman-record 10 double-doubles for Shepard.

Shepard's success came despite having less than one week of practice before the start of Nebraska's 2015 exhibiton season, after suffering an ACL tear in December of 2014.
Shepard also battled a stress reaction in her foot late in the 2015-16 season that limited her production down the stretch. A healthy Shepard will be a key to Nebraska's success in 2016-17.
"Jessica is a very gifted basketball player coming off an impressive freshman campaign," Williams said. "She spent the offseason getting stronger and working to become more well-rounded."

Havers, a 6-5 senior center from Mattawan, Mich., has been a key contributor at Nebraska for three seasons. A freshman on Nebraska's 2014 Big Ten Tournament championship team, Havers moved into a starting role midway through her junior season in 2015-16. For the year, she averaged 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds, including four double-doubles. She produced back-to-back doubles with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Northwestern in the regular-season finale on Feb. 28, before adding 16 points and 10 rebounds against Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament on March 3.

"We are going to look for Allie to step up and be a leader for us as a senior," Williams said. "She has been working hard to expand her skill set, and she has the ability to provide consistent scoring and rebounding, in addition to senior leadership for this team."

The Huskers were dealt a blow in October with season-ending knee surgery to sophomore Rachel Blackburn. The 6-3 forward started the first nine games of her freshman season in 2015-16 and helped the Huskers to a 7-2 record with their only losses on the road to No. 1 UConn and No. 22 Cal.

Blackburn was extremely limited in practice and games the rest of the season because of knee pain, and underwent surgery soon after the completion of the season. She opted for a second surgery on Oct. 13, 2016, and will miss the entire 2016-17 season.

With Blackburn out, Nebraska will look to true freshman Grace Mitchell to provide a presence inside while extending the floor as a stretch-four. The 2016 Kansas USA Today High School Sports Player of the Year, Mitchell hit 48 percent of her threes as a senior at Wellington High School. She averaged 21.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in her lone season at Wellington.

"We have been very pleased with Grace's versatility and willingness to fit in wherever the team needs her," Williams said. "She is strong and athletic and has an incredible work ethic, and we are excited about all she brings to our team."

Third-year sophomore Darrien Washington will need to provide support inside for the Huskers. The 6-2 forward redshirted as a true freshman in 2014-15, then played sparingly as a redshirt freshman in 2015-16. However, Washington has proven she can be productive, amassing 20 points and 19 rebounds in just 39 total minutes a year ago.

"Darrien is gaining confidence and comfort as she enters her third year at Nebraska," Williams said. "Her size and strength put her in a great position to be a physical presence for us in the post."

While Williams and her coaching staff work to find the best positions for their players to be successful in 2016-17, they know Nebraska's schedule will provide plenty of opportunities for the Huskers to prove themselves before Big Ten play rolls around.

Nebraska will make its first appearance in the Preseason WNIT since 2004, when the Huskers play host to at least three games at Pinnacle Bank Arena to open the season. NU will open the regular season against UT-Rio Grande Valley (formerly Texas-Pan American) on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Vaqueros return four starters from a team that advanced to the Postseason WNIT after going 19-14 overall and finishing 9-5 as the Western Athletic Conference runner-up in 2015-16.

The Huskers will then face either 2016 NCAA qualifier Missouri (22-10) or Southland Conference Champion Abilene Christian (26-4), which played in the 2016 Postseason WNIT, on Monday, Nov. 14.

A third game in the WNIT could bring either a Final Four Washington team or a 32-win Colorado State team to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Nov. 17, before the possibility of the Preseason WNIT Championship Game on Nov. 20.

After a Nov. 22 game against Omaha, the Huskers head to Las Vegas for the South Point Shootout at Thanksgiving. NU will face Washington State on Nov. 25, before taking on Virginia on Nov. 26.

The Big Red will play another team from the Old Dominion in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Virginia Tech on Dec. 1. Both Virginia and Virginia Tech played in the 2016 Postseason WNIT.
The Huskers will play their second Pac-12 team when they face California at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Dec. 4. The Big Red fell 87-80 in overtime to the Bears in Berkeley last season.

Nebraska then faces a Drake squad that returns four starters from a 23-10 team that advanced to the WNIT last year. The game with the Bulldogs on Dec. 6, precedes a clash with San Jose State on Dec. 9.

The Big Red will take a break for Finals Week before battling 2016 WNIT qualifier Creighton in Omaha on Dec. 18. Three days later, four-time defending NCAA Champion UConn comes to Pinnacle Bank Arena to close out the Huskers' non-conference schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m.

All eight of Nebraska's home Big Ten games will come against 2016 postseason teams, beginning with Northwestern on Dec. 28. Perennial NCAA Final Four contender Maryland comes to town Jan. 4, before Rutgers returns to Lincoln on Jan. 10. The Big Red will play Michigan at home on Jan. 22, amidst a stretch of playing four of five Big Ten games on the road to close January.

February opens with Minnesota at home on Feb. 4, before the Huskers play three of their final four games at home against 2016 NCAA qualifiers Ohio State (Feb. 16), Indiana (Feb. 19) and Michigan State (Feb. 26).