Huskers Add Hudson for 2018-19 Season

Graduate transfer Kristian Hudson has been added to the 2018-19 Nebraska women's basketball roster, Coach Amy Williams announced on Friday, June 22.

Hudson, who has spent the past three seasons as the starting point guard at Florida International University in Miami, will add one season of depth to the Nebraska backcourt. The 5-5 guard from Birmingham, Ala., averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists as a junior for the Panthers in 2017-18.

She was at her best during the final seven games of her junior season when she averaged 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals in 37 minutes per game. 

“We are excited to add Kristian to our Husker family," Williams said. "Her experience coupled with her enthusiasm to help us raise the bar for our program make her the perfect fit.”

In three seasons as a starter, she totaled 1,076 points, 372 rebounds, 383 assists and 107 steals, while playing more than 1,000 minutes each year. In 89 career games with 87 starts, Hudson averaged a whopping 36.2 minutes per game, while averaging 12.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

Hudson's production and consistency improved in each season at FIU. As a freshman, she started 29 straight games after coming off the bench for the first two games of her career. She averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 35.1 minutes per game. She shot just 30.5 percent from the field, including just 23.6 percent from three-point range as a freshman. She scored in double figures 16 times, including the first 20-point game of her career with 20 points and seven rebounds in a loss at Miami on Dec. 22, 2015. Hudson notched her first of five career double-doubles with 12 points and 10 assists against Western Kentucky on Jan. 7, 2016.

As a sophomore, Hudson contributed 12.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, while improving her field goal percentage to .341 and her three-point field goal percentage to .303. She averaged 36.9 minutes per game, including a remarkable 35-point, eight-rebound, 10-assist effort while playing the full 55 minutes in an 88-87 triple-overtime win over UTEP on Jan. 12, 2017.

Her 35-point, 10-assist outburst against Conference USA-rival UTEP was the first of back-to-back double-doubles for Hudson, joining an 11-point, 10-rebound game that included six assists against UTSA on Jan. 14, 2017. Hudson finished with three 20-point scoring efforts as a sophomore among her 19 double-digit performances. 

As a junior, Hudson produced 21 double-figure scoring efforts in 29 games, including nine 20-plus scoring efforts. She recorded season highs with back-to-back 27-point performances while playing the full 40 minutes against North Dakota State (Dec. 20) and Clemson (Dec. 21). Her performance against Clemson included a career-high-tying 10 rebounds and 10-for-10 free throw shooting. Hudson also notched a double-double with 11 points and a career-high-matching 10 assists at Howard on Dec. 2, 2017.

In her final season at FIU, Hudson shot a career-best .354 from the field, including .340 from three-point range. She also knocked down a career-high .819 at the free throw line.

Hudson will be one of five newcomers to join the Nebraska roster for 2018-19, including freshmen Leigha Brown, Sam Haiby, Kayla Mershon and Ashtyn Veerbeek. The four Husker freshmen made up one of the top-20 incoming classes in the nation according to ESPN.

Hudson's addition should help ease the losses of departed senior guards Jasmine Cincore, Janay Morton and Emily Wood, who all played significant roles in Nebraska making the nation's top turnaround in 2017-18. The three seniors helped the Huskers to a 14-game improvement in the win column and a third-place finish in the Big Ten Conference before earning a bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament for Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year Amy Williams.

Nebraska enters the 2018-19 season with 11 active players on its roster, including its top five returning scorers from a year ago - senior Maddie Simon (Lincoln, Neb.), juniors Hannah Whitish (Barneveld, Wis.) and Nicea Eliely (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and sophomores Kate Cain (Middletown, N.Y.) and Taylor Kissinger (Minden, Neb.).

Williams also announced on Friday that senior Darrien Washington and juniors Rachel Blackburn and Bria Stallworth will not be on Nebraska's active roster in 2018-19, although all three will be enrolled and on scholarship at the University while they complete their undergraduate degrees.

Kristian Hudson's Career Bests
Points - 35 vs. UTEP, Jan. 12, 2017
Rebounds - 10 (twice, vs. Clemson, Dec. 21, 2017; vs. UTSA, Jan. 14, 2017)
Assists - 10 (three times, at Howard, Dec. 2, 2017; vs. UTEP, Jan. 12, 2017; vs. Western Kentucky, Jan. 7, 2016)
Steals - 8 vs. FAU, Jan. 7, 2017
Blocks - 2 vs. UMass Lowell, Dec. 4, 2015
FGM - 11 vs. UTEP, Jan. 12, 2017
FGA - 26 at UTSA, Feb. 14, 2018
3FGM - 5 vs. Bethune-Cookman, Nov. 13, 2017
3FGA - 9 (twice, vs. North Texas, Feb. 8, 2018; vs. North Dakota State, Dec. 20, 2017)
FTM - 12 vs. UTEP, Jan. 12, 2017
FTA - 13 vs. UTEP, Jan. 12, 2017