Nebraska used a six-run first inning to withstand a late Omaha rally and pick up an 8-5 win on Tuesday afternoon at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Nebraska (6-5) scored eight runs on 11 hits and two errors, while Omaha (4-7) totaled five runs, 10 hits and an error.

Dylan Carey led the Big Red with a 3-for-5 performance, a double and two RBI. Cole Kitchens went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI, while Mac Moyer had a 2-for-3 day with two RBI and a run scored. Case Sanderson drove in a run and had a hit, and Nico Newhan added a double and a run scored.

Cooper Katskee improved to 1-0 on the season after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts across six innings. Chase Olson surrendered a run in 0.1 innings of work, and Ryan Harrahill pitched 1.1 scoreless frames. J’Shawn Unger earned his first save of the season, working 1.1 innings despite allowing a run in the ninth.

Omaha opened the scoring with a two-out two-run homer to right-center field that gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The Huskers responded in a big way in the bottom of the first, sending 10 batters to the plate and plating six runs to flip the game on its head. Moyer and Overbeek reached on back-to-back walks, while Carey doubled down the right-field line to score Moyer and pull Nebraska within a run.

Sanderson followed with an RBI groundout that brought home Overbeek to tie the game, before Kitchens put the Huskers in front for good with a two-run homer to right field that made it a 4-2 game.

Nebraska loaded the bases with a pair of hit batters and a double from Newhan, setting the table for Moyer’s two-RBI single through the left side that pushed the lead to 6-2 through the opening frame.

Kitchens doubled home Carey in the second to extend the advantage to 7-2, and Carey added an RBI single through the left side in the third, scoring Jeter Worthley, who had been hit by a pitch for a third time on the afternoon, to make it 8-2.

Omaha chipped away in the sixth with two singles and an NU error to score an unearned run, cutting the Husker lead to 8-3. The Mavs added another in the seventh on an RBI single to pull within 8-4.

Harrahill worked around trouble in the eighth, stranding three UNO baserunners to send an 8-4 lead into the ninth. After surrendering an RBI single after two walks that brought Omaha within 8-5, Unger retired the final batter to earn the save and preserve Nebraska’s win.

Nebraska returns to play tomorrow afternoon against South Dakota State. First pitch between the Huskers and Jackrabbits is set for 1:30 p.m. at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park.

Prince Earns All-Big Ten Honor

Nebraska's Britt Prince earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the media and second-team accolades from the coaches when the conference announced its annual awards Tuesday, March 3.

Through 29 games as a sophomore, the 5-11 point guard from Omaha is averaging a team-best 17.3 points per game while hitting 54.3 percent (188-346) of her shots from the field, including 36-of-79 threes (.456).

Prince, who advanced to the list of 10 players on the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Midseason Top 10 (Feb. 2), was also a member of the Lieberman Award Preseason Top 20.

She owns two 30-point performances, nine 20-point efforts and 26 double-figure scoring games this season. She is coming off her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while matching her career highs with eight assists and two blocks in a win over Rutgers (Feb. 28).

Prince leads the Huskers and ranks 12th in the 18-team Big Ten in scoring (17.3 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg), while ranking among league leaders in field goal percentage (7th, .543) and free throw percentage (.901, 2nd).

The two-time Nebraska High School Player of the Year out of Elkhorn North was a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman team and an honorable-mention all-conference selection a year ago.

In addition to Prince's All-Big Ten award, Husker senior Callin Hake claimed Nebraska's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the second straight season. The 5-8 guard from Victoria, Minn., was Nebraska's Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winner across all female sports in 2024-25. She is a two-time President of the Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the current chair of the Big Ten Student-Athlete Issues Commission.

Prince and Hake will lead the Huskers against Indiana in the first round of the Allstate Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday in Indianapolis. Tip-off between the Huskers and Hoosiers is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT).

No. 2 UCLA chasing even bigger dreams at it attempts to defend Big Ten Tournament title

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — No. 2 UCLA has spent the past year celebrating one net-cutting ceremony after another.

The Bruins won their first conference tournament title in nearly two decades last March, then reached their first Final Four in nearly half a century and on Sunday completed the Big Ten's first perfect conference season since 2014-15 with a victory at longtime rival Southern California.

Now they begin another potentially historic quest — winning the program's first national title since 1978 — and bringing home the first back-to-back conference tourney crowns in school history.

“We’ve had a joke all year, since the summer, (assistant coach) Tasha (Brown) always says ‘March is happening now’ like the reps now matter for March, but March is happening now,” Close said after Sunday’s victory. “But I truly believe the key to this team is playing its best basketball in the most pressurized moments. They have broken almost every single record. It’s a pretyt darn fun team to coach.”

Finding flaws with UCLA (28-1, 18-0) is a real challenge for seemingly everyone but Close, who has acknowledged this is the best team she's ever coached.

All-American center Lauren Betts leads a team that has six WNBA prospects and ranks among the top 10 nationally in per game averages in scoring, rebounding, assists and is 26th in points allowed. Still, Close knows her team needs to do more if it wants to extend its 22-game winning streak and 21-game conference winning streak that began with last year's Big Ten Tourney run.

But the Bruins realize this year's pathway could be more daunting. Of the 15 teams in Indianapolis this year, nearly half are ranked in the top 20 — No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland, No. 18 Michigan State and No. 19 Minnesota. USC and Nebraska also appear in the NET's Top 25, giving the Big Ten nine teams in that grouping.

“Being battle tested and just kind of getting that experience — basically half of our team is sophomores so we have that year under out belts,” Michigan guard Macy Brown said. “So being able to play those teams in the Big Ten, it's always helpful.”

UCLA opens play Friday against either USC, last year’s tourney runner-up, or Washington. A victory would set up a semifinal contest likely against Minnesota, Nebraska or Ohio State and a potential title game rematch with yet another ranked team.

Tough? Yes. But it may be just what the Bruins need to sharpen their game if they want to become the first Big Ten national champ since Purdue in 1999.

Who's in, who's out

Twelve of the 15 teams had already clinched tourney spots heading into the final week of the regular season.

Indiana (17-13, 6-12) won its last three to clinch the No. 13 seed while Purdue (13-16, 5-13) won its regular-season finale to claim the No. 14 seed. Wisconsin (13-16, 5-13) earned the final spot despite losing nine straight.

The three teams that did not qualify for the tournament are Penn State, Rutgers and Northwestern with outgoing longtime coach Joe McKeown.

Key players

In addition to Betts, Gabriela Jacquez and Kiki Rice of UCLA, the tourney features two of the nation's top 10 scorers — Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge (23.4 points) and Indiana guard Shay Ciezki (23.2) points. Big Ten co-runner-up Michigan (24-5, 15-3) is powered by guard Olivia Olson (19.6). First-year players Jazzy Davidson of Southern Cal (17-12, 9-9) and Cearah Parchment of 10th-seeded Illinois (19-10, 9-9) are among the top freshmen.

Heating up

Iowa (24-5, 15-3) has won six straight to finish in a second-place tie, a streak powered by the combination of Ava Heiden (17.6) and Hannah Stuelke (13.9). Minnesota (22-7, 13-5) might be the biggest surprise, winning 10 of its last 11 to give traditional power Maryland (23-7, 11-7) the No. 5 seed. The Terrapins had won six straight before losing their regular-season finale to Michigan.

The schedule

Wednesday's first-round games feature 12th-seeded Nebraska (18-11, 7-11) against Indiana, 10th-seeded Illinois against Wisconsin and 11th-seeded Oregon (20-11, 8-10) against Purdue.

Washington and USC open play Thursday and will be followed by fifth-seeded Ohio State (24-6, 13-5) against either Indiana or Nebraska, sixth-seeded Michigan State (22-7, 11-7) against either Illinois or Wisconsin, and Maryland against Oregon or Purdue.

The top four seeds — UCLA, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota — open play in Friday's quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played Saturday, with the title game set for Sunday afternoon.