Huskers Enjoy Fun Night at Open Practice

The Nebraska women's basketball team enjoyed a fun night during an open practice at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday.

A crowd estimated at over 1,200 showed up early and stood in line outside the arena to get their first glimpse of the Huskers on the court in person this season. The practice was just that - practice - no skill contests, no elaborate promotions, no concert, no DJ - just practice.

While Husker fans lined up outside early on a glorious fall evening in Lincoln, the six returning Huskers and five newcomers spent an hour working hard in practice before the doors opened to the public at 6:45 p.m. The Huskers kept working over the next hour in half court and full-court drills against their male practice squad, until the Big Red and the scout team went head-to-head in a live 20-minute (continuous clock) scrimmage. The Huskers defeated the scout team 29-21.

Coach Amy Williams spoke to the crowd early in the practice before turning the scrimmage over to the radio voice of Nebraska women's basketball Matt Coatney to call the scrimmage live over the public address system, rather than on the radio.

Following the practice, the Huskers stepped to center court to introduce themselves to the crowd, which required doing their favorite dance move or telling the fans one interesting fact about themselves. 

The night concluded with Nebraska players and staff signing autographs in Pinnacle Bank Arena's main lobby.

Nearly 1,000 free "Nebraska Women's Basketball" T-shirts were given away during the event, and free Husker women's basketball season posters and schedule cards were also distributed.

The public event came as part of @B1GWBBall Media Week (Oct. 22-26), which continues on Wednesday with a BTN interview featuring Nebraska senior Maddie Simon. On Tuesday, all the Big Ten coaches were showcased in BTN interviews with Coach Amy Williams' appearance receiving more than double the views of any other coach in the conference.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, her interview had received more than 16,000 views, while the only other conference coach with more than 6,000 views was Michigan's Kim Barnes Arico (7,700). 

Nebraska's @HuskersWBB page has one of the top college women's basketball presences with more than 17,000 followers on Twitter.

Nebraska will continue its preparations for the season until making its next public appearance to begin exhibition play against the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off between the Huskers and Lopers is set for 4 p.m.