Huskers Add Croatian Star Bozan for 2024-25

The Nebraska women's basketball team picked up a big addition inside for the 2024-25 season with the signing of Croatian Petra Bozan, Head Coach Amy Williams announced on Monday, Aug. 26.

Bozan, a 6-3 forward/center, arrived in Nebraska Sunday evening just in time for the start of fall classes on Monday, after a strong performance for her home country at the FIBA U18 Women's Eurobasket in Matosinhos, Portugal (Aug. 3-11).

Bozan led Croatia in both points (113) and rebounds (70) over seven tournament games, ranking sixth among all players in the 16-team tournament in scoring (16.1 ppg) and third in rebounding (10.0 rpg). She added 1.6 blocks and 1.3 assists.

"We are thrilled to be adding Petra to our Husker women's basketball family," Nebraska Coach Amy Williams said. "Her length, skill set and experience make her a perfect complement to our current roster, and we are excited to see her growth and development in a Husker uniform."

Against Turkey (Aug. 8), Bozan erupted for 25 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks in 36 minutes, going 10-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. She added a second double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Poland (Aug. 4), before putting up her first of two 20-point performances in the tournament with 21 points to go with nine rebounds against Belgium (Aug. 5). 

For the tournament, Bozan hit 48 percent of her field goal attempts, including 27.3 percent (6-22) of her threes, while knocking down 72.2 percent (13-18) of her free throws.

During the 2023-24 season, Bozan competed for KAZL Split in Croatia's Premier League, averaging 15.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocked shots over 22 games, to earn second-team All-Premier League honors. She hit 54.5 percent of her field goals and 73.6 percent of her free throws, helping KAZL Split to a 17-5 record. Her performances included a season-high 31 points on 14-of-21 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and seven steals in a win over Zagreb (Oct. 28, 2023). It was one of her 17 double-doubles during the 22-game Premier League regular season. She pulled down a season-high 19 rebounds against Brod na Savi (Nov. 4, 2023).

Last summer, Bozan averaged 12.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists for Croatia at the 2023 FIBA U18 European Championships. Her efforts in Sofia, Bulgaria included double-doubles against Greece and Macedonia before adding a third double-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the title game win over Luxembourg. She earned a spot on the tournament's All-Star Five to propel Croatia to the championship of Division B.

She also represented Croatia at the 2022 FIBA U16 European Championships in Portugal, averaging 13.6 points and a tournament-best 15.0 rebounds over seven games. She led Croatia to a third-place finish, including a 16-point, 13-rebound effort against Spain in the semifinals. She produced six double-doubles, including a 19-point, 15-rebound effort in a win over Italy, and a huge 14-point, 23-rebound performance in a win over Finland. She also averaged 2.4 blocks and 1.7 steals.

The daughter of Darko and Stanka Bozan, Petra was born Feb. 10, 2006. She also played club basketball for WBC Akademija Zana Lelas. She plans to major in business at Nebraska.