Jaz Shelley might be gone from the Nebraska Cornhuskes women’s basketball team but Amy Williams’ crew is still supposed to be a top contender for a postseason appearance. The odds of them getting to the dance for a second straight season will depend quite a bit on one veteran leader especially.
So far so good, as far as the expectations game goes. On Thursday, senior Alexis Markowski was named to the pre-season All Big Ten team for the third straight year.
The 6-3 Lincoln native earned All-Big Ten at the end of last season after leading the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a runner-up finish in the conference tournament and the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Markowski averaged a double-double, leading NU with 15.7 points per game and 10.5 rebounds. She enters the 2024-25 season with 40 career double-doubles and has matched Nebraska All-Americans Kelsey Griffin and Jordan Hooper for the program's all-time record. That of course means that Markowski’s next double-double will have her as the lone school record holder.
Nebraska Cornhuskers star Alexis Markowski starts season as All Big Ten pick
Markowski is in shouting distance of another Nebraska record. She currently sits 324 rebounds away from Janet Smith's program record of 1,280 that was set more than 40 years ago.
While it won’t be easy for the center to pass that mark, it’s far from impossible. She logged 322 rebounds in the 2022-23 season and a career best 369 boards last year.
Before Alexis Markowski’s season tips off on November 4 against Omaha, she’ll join Big Ten freshman of the year Natalie Potts and Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Amy Williams at Big Ten Media Days next week. Then the team will begin practicing in earnest and hope to find their way back to the Big Dance.