How to Watch Northwestern Women's Basketball vs Nebraska: Preview, Predictions, TV Channel
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The 8-12 Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball team will look to pull itself out of a two-game losing skid on Wednesday, with a home matchup against a strong Nebraska Cornhuskers squad, led by likely 2026 All-Big Ten Team guard Britt Prince.
Northwestern's ambitions of making a legitimate Big Dance run are pretty much cooked, barring an improbable late-season comeback. But their shot at a Big Ten Tournament run remains alive and well.
Only 15 of 18 "Big Ten" teams (they really should revise that name) ultimately qualify for the year-end inter-conference clash. At present, the No. 15-seeded Wildcats are right on that bubble, albeit with plenty of season left. They'll need to pick up some more conference wins to secure their spot in the tournament.
Game Preview
Amy Williams' Cornhuskers boast one of the best offenses in college basketball. Their 82.3 points scored per game ranks 17th overall (out of 363 teams!), while their 114.1 offensive rating is currently 10th. They're one of the most efficient 3-point shooting squads in the nation, connecting on 35.9 percent of their takes from distance. They're also incredibly egalitarian, passing out for 18.9 dishes a night.
Northwestern may need to match Nebraska by stepping up its own offense, as Joe McKeown's club isn't stopping anybody on the other end.
Northwestern X-Factors
Passing and long range sniping are the key elements where Northwestern could actually stand a chance.
Sophomore guard Xamiya Walton has been putting on a clinic of long range sniping. Even during a 3-point shooting. a brutal 80-46 blowout against the UCLA Bruins on Sunday, she connected on 3-of-5 shooting from deep for all nine of her points.
Raining Threes 🌧️
— Northwestern Women’s Basketball (@nuwbball) January 25, 2026
Third trey of the game for Walton! pic.twitter.com/XBhvYcZaRf
She's making 40.2 percent of her 4.1 triple tries a night on the year.
Senior guard Caroline Lau, who led the Big Ten with her 6.0 dishes a night last season, now leads all of NCAA Division I college hoops with her 9.1 assists a night.
She'll have to do the lion's share of the distribution as usual. Only two other guards — junior Casey Harter and senior Tate Lash — have been able to pass for over two assists per game this season.
The 'Cats' leading scorer Grace Sullivan, meanwhile, will need to have a big night as usual. The 6-foot-4 forward has been averaging 22.1 points on 55.5 percent shooting from the field (all inside) and 75.8 percent shooting from the charity stripe this season — good for 10th in college basketball and second in the conference.
Final Score Prediction: Nebraska 70, Northwestern 55.
How to Watch, Listen
- Matchup: Northwestern (8-12, 2-7 B1G) vs Nebraska (15-5, 4-5 B1G)
- When: Wednesday, January 28
- Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Time: 7 p.m. CST
- Watch: B1G (Streaming)
- Listen: WGN Radio 720 AM, The Varsity Network
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An Evanston native, Alex Kirschenbaum is also a proud Northwestern alum. He has written for Bleacher Nation, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Hoops Rumors, Trailers From Hell, Men's Journal, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others. Alex knows Zach Collins has given the Bulls some good years, but he'll never forgive the then-Gonzaga center for that very obvious goaltend against the Wildcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.