Nebraska
Nebraska Women’s Basketball prepare for “Red Out” against Michigan on Wednesday
LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Athletics Press Release) – The Nebraska women’s basketball team will wear red uniforms at home when the Huskers play host to Michigan in a key Big Ten Conference clash on Wednesday night in Lincoln.
Tip-off between Nebraska (12-5, 4-2) and the Wolverines (12-5, 3-2 Big Ten) at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 7 p.m. (CT) with tickets available now at Huskers.com Nebraska fans are encouraged to wear red to help support the Huskers and the American Red Cross.
Nebraska fans who are B1G+ subscribers can watch the live video stream. Husker fans also can listen across the Huskers Radio Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha, the Huskers App and Huskers.com with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action. Pregame starts at 6:30 p.m. (CT).
Nebraska hopes to bounce back from its second Big Ten loss when it faces Michigan, after the Huskers suffered a tight 62-58 setback at Minnesota on Sunday. The Huskers (34) and Wolverines (42) sit in a pack of five Big Ten teams (27-Maryland, 30-Penn State, 34-Minnesota) ranked between No. 25 and 45 in the NCAA NET and fighting for position in the conference standings.
Alexis Markowski produced her Big Ten-leading 11th double-double with game highs of 17 points and 14 rebounds at Minnesota. The 6-3 center owns five double-doubles in Big Ten play this season and 32 in her career. Her next double-double will move her into a tie for fourth on Nebraska’s career list with Emily Cady, who had 33 from 2012 to 2015. Markowski, who leads the Big Ten with 10.2 rebounds per game, including 12.2 in league action, recently joined NU’s career top 10 in total rebounds (761) and is just 17 boards from catching Maurtice Ivy at No. 9 (778). A two-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate, Markowski has scored in double figures in all 17 games this season, including five 20-point performances.
Two-time Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award candidate Jaz Shelley has added 12.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and team bests of 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals. She owns two double-doubles this season, including 13 points and 11 assists in a win over Maryland (Dec. 31). The 5-9 guard from Moe, Australia, is the first Husker in history to record multiple career triple-doubles after getting 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over UNCW (Dec. 5). She is coming off a 12-point, eight-assist effort at Minnesota (Jan. 14). She is just three three-pointers away from becoming the fourth Husker in history with 200 triples.
Five-time Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week Natalie Potts is leading all league freshmen in scoring (11.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg), including 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the win over Maryland (Dec. 31). She also had 16 second-half points in a win over Wisconsin (Jan. 4). She is coming off 10 points and six rebounds at Minnesota, setting up her most recent conference freshman honor (Jan. 15). The two-time Missouri MaxPreps High School Player of the Year out of Incarnate Word Academy has scored in double figures 11 times this season. She also leads Nebraska with 13 blocks on the year, while leading the Huskers in conference play with 10 steals (1.7 spg).
Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten) vs. Michigan Wolverines (12-5, 3-2 Big Ten)Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, 7 p.m. (CT)
Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska
Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets
Live Video: B1G+ Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (6:30 p.m.) Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst) B107.3 FM (Lincoln), 590 AM (Omaha), Huskers.com, Huskers App
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Promotions: Red Cross Day/MLK Legacy Game Special Event: Red Out (Huskers/Fans Wear Red)
Scouting the Michigan Wolverines
Coach Kim Barnes Arico is in her 12th season leading Michigan and her 28th year as a head coach. She brings the Wolverines to Lincoln with a 12-5 record and a 3-2 Big Ten mark after a 76-52 win over Wisconsin Saturday in Ann Arbor.
The win over the Badgers followed back-to-back losses to Minnesota (82-66, Jan. 9) and at Indiana (80-59, Jan. 4).
Michigan produced its best season in school history with a trip to the 2022 NCAA Elite Eight after advancing to the first-ever NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2021. Last year, Michigan was knocked out in the NCAA second round by eventual champion LSU.
Junior Laila Phelia leads Michigan with 15.8 points, including 19.2 points per game in Big Ten play. The 6-0 guard earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last year while ranking 10th in the conference in scoring at 16.7 points. She had 12 points and five rebounds in last year’s win over NU in Lincoln, but did not play against the Huskers in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines, who lost starters Leigha Brown (17.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.8 apg), Emily Kiser (15.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.9 apg) and Maddie Nolan (9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.0 apg), also return senior Cameron Williams. The 6-3 forward started all 33 games last season but made her first Big Ten start in the win over Wisconsin, getting a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes. She is averaging 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds this season. Last year she totaled six points and five rebounds in 27 minutes in Michigan’s two wins over Nebraska.
Jordan Hobbs (9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Australian Chrya Evans (5.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) have moved into the starting lineup, along with Missouri graduate transfer Lauren Hansen (11.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg), who started her career at Auburn. Hobbs started in place of Phelia in last year’s game at Michigan, getting 10 points and five rebounds. She did not play in Lincoln.
Australian Elissa Brett, a four-year starter at Bowling Green, was a part-time starter for the Wolverines early in the season before suffering a leg injury in the third quarter against Minnesota (Jan. 9). She did not play against Wisconsin. The 6-0 graduate transfer is averaging 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Taylor Williams, a five-year player and four-year starter at Western Michigan, also has been a part-time starter, averaging 6.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Freshman Taylor Woodson (3.4 ppg) joins returning contributors Greta Kampschroeder (3.8 ppg), Elise Stuck (2.5 ppg) and Alyssa Crockett (2.5 ppg) in rounding out Michigan’s regulars in 2023-24.
Michigan is averaging 71.9 points and hitting 42.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 36.2 percent of its threes, while making 7.4 threes per game in Big Ten action. The Wolverines own a plus-8.7 team rebounding margin and a plus-4.1 turnover margin. Michigan is surrendering just 58.1 points per game while holding opponents to 40 percent shooting.
Nebraska vs. Michigan Series History
Nebraska owns a 16-9 edge in the all-time series with Michigan, but the Wolverines swept the season series with the Huskers last year, including a 76-59 victory in Lincoln (Dec. 28, 2022) for Kim Barnes Arico’s 500th career coaching win. The Huskers battled to the wire in an 80-75 setback against the No. 12 Wolverines (Feb. 12, 2023) to close the season series.
Last season in Lincoln, Jaz Shelley led Nebraska with 21 points and five assists, but the other four Husker starters combined for just 17 points. Callin Hake added 11 and Annika Stewart contributed eight off the bench to help the Huskers. In Ann Arbor, Alexis Markowski produced a big double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds while Shelley added 14 points and 10 assists, but it was not enough to overcome the Wolverines.
In 2021-22, Nebraska swept a pair of games with a top-10 Michigan team, including a 76-73 win over the No. 10 Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in Indianapolis (March 4, 2022). The Huskers sprinted to a 79-58 victory over No. 8 Michigan (Jan. 4, 2022), for the largest victory margin in school history over a top-10 opponent.
Alexis Markowski made her first career start against the Wolverines in Lincoln in 2021-22, putting up 20 points and pulling down seven rebounds in a 79-58 win (Jan. 7, 2022). Jaz Shelley added a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
NU is 8-4 all-time against Michigan in Lincoln. The Huskers are 8-5 all-time against the Wolverines away from home, including 6-4 in Ann Arbor and 2-1 at the Big Ten Tournament.
The series has been evenly matched as Big Ten foes, with Nebraska owning a 10-9 edge since joining the conference in 2011-12.
Nebraska was 6-0 against Michigan as non-conference foes dating back to the first meeting between the two teams on Nov. 28, 1980 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln. The Huskers won 118-92 in the highest scoring game in Nebraska women’s basketball history.
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Copyright 2024 KOLN. All rights reserved.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Legalizing online sports betting has met with resistance in the Nebraska Legislature for years.
Tax Relief Nebraska, a group backed by Nebraska casinos and online sports betting groups, took the issue to the people of the state through a petition drive.
Those petitions are now in, and casino officials say they expect to have enough signatures to make the November ballot — but also expect pushback through Election Day.
The case for online betting
Currently, legal sports bets cannot be placed on a phone in Nebraska. Casino operators say people who choose to wager are finding other ways to do it.
“They’re just doing it illegally through a virtual private network, or they’re driving over to the first exit between Iowa and Nebraska, placing a bet and then driving back to their home,” said Lynne McNally of Warhorse Casino.
Nebraska casino operators say the state has already collected millions of dollars in state taxes and property tax relief from casino gambling, and that online sports betting would add to that total.
A majority of Nebraskans voted for casino gambling to enter the state in 2020, and casino operators expect similar support if the online betting petition makes the November ballot.
“As you know, we got 65% on the constitutional amendment and actually got nearly 70% on the tax portion of the statute when the casinos were legalized in 2020. I think that we’ll be in that area, if not maybe a little higher than that,” McNally said.
“There’s always going to be a sector of the public that doesn’t want to gamble. They don’t want to go to our facilities and that’s just fine. I guess I have an objection with trying to tell other people what to do,” McNally said.
The opposition
The Nebraska Family Alliance stands against online gambling and plans to campaign against the initiative across the state. The nonprofit group issued a statement that reads in part: “Online sports betting has been a massive public policy failure that benefits national sportsbooks at the expense of kids, student-athletes, families and businesses. While they have more money, they don’t have the truth.”
Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, has opposed expanded gambling in Nebraska for 30 years.
“They’re telling the same lie — property tax relief. Well in Nebraska you say property tax relief and everybody says where do I sign,” Loontjer said.
Loontjer also raised concerns about the impact on young people.
“Sports betting on the phone is the most addictive thing for young people, young men especially. You’ve got kids that are going to lose their scholarships, lose their future,” Loontjer said.
What comes next
If enough signatures are verified and the issue is placed on the November ballot, Warhorse Casino officials say Nebraskans could be able to make sports bets on their phones by spring of next year.
Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.
Along with marching in the parade, the high schools will tour the U.S. Capitol, visit Mount Vernon and other monuments and museums.
Around 80 Grand Island students are making the trip. Lee said the students cover their own costs, with fundraising largely run though the school’s booster program helping offset the expense.
Bishop Neumann’s 53 students benefited from community donations, along with a holiday greenery sale and fundraisers, which Kellett said helped cover airfare and other costs.
For both directors, the trip carries extra weight tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“That’s a pretty big milestone,” Lee said. “And to be able to be a part of that is pretty neat.”
Kellett said the moment will stay with students long after the parade ends.
“These kids, they’ll be around for the 300th anniversary of the country, and they’ll be able to look back and tell their grandkids, ‘you know, I was there at 250 and was able to march in the National Independence Day Parade,’” Kellett said.
Both bands have spent the summer preparing. Grand Island started working on its music after its final spring concert in May, rehearsing its marching and music together on Tuesday evenings.
Bishop Neumann has rehearsed continuously over the summer and marched in two parades to prepare, a 150th anniversary celebration in Weston and the Papillion Days parade.
Kellett said the band’s last rehearsal in Wahoo drew residents who lined the streets holding signs and cheering the students on.
“The students have come in, and they’ve worked really hard,” Kellett said. “They have their music memorized and they’ve worked on their marching skills, and so all that effort into this they’re ready to go for the parade.”
The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. CT Saturday at Third Street and Constitution Avenue.
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Like his father, Zack Erstad is a Husker. Erstad, the son of Hall of Fame baseball player Darin Erstad, joined the Nebraska men’s golf program on Tuesday.
Zack signed with the Huskers one month after winning a state championship at Lincoln East. With the Spartans, Erstad was a two-time NSAA champion. He was Class A’s individual runner-up in 2026. The previous year, Erstad claimed the Nebraska Junior PGA Championship title.
Erstad said joining the Huskers is a dream come true. The Nebraska newcomer grew up playing baseball and hockey. However, he focused solely on golf while in high school.
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Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
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