Two Team Takeaways as Nebraska Controls Western Illinois

Another dominating game, from start to finish, for the Huskers as both offense and defense came alive in a total team effort.

Nebraska dominated Western Illinois on Saturday to move to 2-0. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The women's basketball team kicked off a busy Saturday for Nebraska sports with a 98-35 takedown of the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The 63-point win is the seventh-largest margin of victory in program history and moves the Huskers to 2-0 on the season.

Read on for some key observations following the win for the Huskers.

Britt Prince Hits Career Milestone as Offense Comes to Life

Prince only needed two points to cross the 1,000 career point mark and she wasted no time, hitting the opening jumper at 9:46 in the first quarter. She'd go on to account for 19 of the Husker's 98 points, the best of both teams.

But she wasn't alone in scoring double digits in Saturday afternoon's game. Amiah Hargrove had 17 and freshman five-star Ashlyn Koupal put up 16. Allison Weidner and Emily Fisher both contributed 10 (a career high for Fisher) and Natalie Potts added 9 of her own in her first start in nearly two years. Every Husker who played, which was every Husker except Logan Nissley, who is still day-to-day and is expected back next week, contributed points on the team's route of Western Illinois.

In her pregame interview on Nebraska Sports Radio, head coach Amy Williams expressed no concerns about the team's three-point shooting woes from the game before, saying it would come as the team of shooters learned when to take the best shot. Sometimes coaches know best. As a team, Nebraska shot 42% from behind the arc, hitting eight 3-pointers, led by Hargrove (3-5) and Koupal (2-5).

When asked about the increased efficiency at the post-game press conference, Weidner gave the entire team credit. "We did a great job today of taking great team shots and I think we shared the ball really well today and I think that's what led to us shooting at a better percentage."

Nebraska's Defense Stifled the Leathernecks the Entire Game

Prior to the game, Williams said the key to beating Western Illinois would be Nebraska's defensive pressure. Specifically, they wanted to limit paint touches and not let the Leathernecks get comfortable running their offense. One way to do that was to control for standout fifth-year, Mia Nicastro, but not giving her so much attention that her teammates could put up big numbers.

If that was the goal of the Huskers defense this game, consider it met.

From a pure points perspective, Nebraska held Western Illinois to only 35 points, their lowest total in over 15 years. The Leathernecks scored 20 points in the paint, never more than 10 points per quarter, and hit 31.8% of their field goals.

Perhaps more impressive than holding a team to only 35 points, though, is forcing 33 turnovers, two more than the previous game. From (almost literally) the jump, the Nebraska defense put pressure on every player on the Western Illinois roster. After Prince's opening bucket, Weidner had a steal and score. And on the third play of the game, Nebraska forced a turnover.

Unlike against San Jose State, there was never any letup from the Husker defense. There were no late-game runs for Western Illinois, and no drop-off from Nebraska between starters and bench players. As the season progresses, the Huskers will need to continue to play defense at a high and consistent level.

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