The first road trip of the season has arrived for the No. 21 Nebraska women’s basketball team.

The Huskers avoided another scare from a mid-major conference contender in an impressive 84-58 victory over Southern on Tuesday. Five-star recruit Britt Prins returned from a lower leg/ankle injury but appeared to have some rust in scoring six points on 2-for-5 shooting with four assists, three steals and three rebounds.

All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski carried the load with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds while being the reigning freshman of the year Natalie Potts scored 17 points with 12 rebounds for a double-double. Plus, Alberte Rimdal added 13 points to complete the leading trio and improve NU to a 3-0 start.

Next up is a weekend trip to South Dakota, where Nebraska will play at the historic Sanford Pentagon to take on South Dakota, who will be the Huskers’ second Summit League opponent in their first four games.

Here’s everything you need to know for Saturday.

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South Dakota Scout

Head Coach: Carrie Eighmey | 1st season | 248-124 (.667) Career HC record | 3x NCAA DII tournament appearances, 2x NAIA national tournament appearances | Previous head coaching stops at Idaho, UNK and Hastings College.

2023-2024 Record: 23-13 (9-7 top, 4th) | 1x All-Summit League First Team, 1x All-Newcomer Team | L, 84-52 to Wyoming in WNIT Super 16.

All-time series: Nebraska leads 10-1 (last game 2013, 87-53 NU)

Fun fact: Saturday will be only the 12th game between the two schools, with Nebraska’s only loss in the series coming in an 87-85 overtime thriller in 1981. This will be only the third time the Huskers and Coyotes have played since 1984.

Main returns: Grace Larkins, G, Sr. | Carley Duffney, F, Jr. | Alexi Hempe, F, Sr. | Olivia Kieffer, G, Soph.

Most important additions: Adara Groman, G, Sr. (New Hampshire) | Ruthie Loomis-Goltl, C, R-Fr. (Colorado).

Key starting points: Kendall Holmes, G, Sr. (Belmont) | Natalie Mazurek, C, R-Jr. (TCU) | Tori Deperry, F (eligibility) | Walker Demers, C, Jr. (North Dakota) | Nicole Avila-Ambrosi, G (eligibility).

Outlook: A new era is dawning in Vermillion with first-year head coach Carie Eighmey. South Dakota has proven to be an effective proving ground for coaches, with two of the last three developing into leaders of Power Four programs, including Amy Williams from Nebraska and Dawn Plitzweit of Minnesota. The Coyotes only got two years from previous coach Kayla Karius, but she left to lead her alma mater at Wisconsin Green Bay.

Eighmey has an impressive resume herself, with a career winning percentage of .667 over twelve seasons as a head coach. She led her alma mater, NAIA’s Hastings College to a 68-31 record over three seasons before transferring to Division II’s University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK). She spent eight seasons in Kearney, compiling a 165-74 record with three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament to end her tenure. She moved to Idaho and posted a 15-16 record in one season before returning to the Midwest.

Many players remained after the coaching change, including five of the nine players who played in 30 or more games last season. That includes guard Kendall Holmes, who left for Belmont after recording 11.4 points per game for SD.

However, Eighmey was able to retain last season’s leading scorer (16.5 PPG) and All-Summit League First Teamer Grace Larkins. Third-leading scorer Carley Duffney (7.7 PPG) also returns alongside forward Alexi Hempe (5.6 PPG) and Olivia Kieffer, who came off the bench for every game last year.

Adara Groman (New Hampshire) and 6-3 center Ruthie Loomis-Goltl (Colorado) are both coming to Vermillion, but Eighmey’s first team consists mainly of returning players. Eighmey is taking a more calculated approach, bringing in five true freshmen.

The Coyotes have lost their first three games by a combined 13 points to Saint Louis (85-83, OT), Air Force (73-66) and LMU (71-67, OT). The competitiveness is there, but it’s hard not to see Nebraska running away with this thing. It will be interesting to see if Eighmey becomes another South Dakota coaching success story in the coming years.

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