
Nebraska’s Annika Stewart, who has appeared in all 20 games this season, is part of the freshmen crew helping the Huskers in their first college seasons.
This wasn’t some average baller shooting baskets outside the dorms on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus one day last summer.
That was somebody on the team.
When Nebraska women’s basketball player Whitney Brown wanted to try some new techniques, she took her practice to the courts outside her dorm.
All the work has paid off for the Grand Island native and Husker freshman guard who has had several significant showings this season, especially in games Nebraska won.
And hard work has quickly become something each of Nebraska’s three freshmen — Annika Stewart, Ruby Porter and Brown — are known for.
The group has helped the Huskers to an 11-9 record going into Wednesday’s game at Minnesota.
Brown’s time on the outdoor court came during the summer months, when players were limited to specific times they could be at the practice facility due to COVID-19.
So Brown went outside to hone some new skills the coaches had been working with her on.
“I honestly felt like a first-grader. I could not get down the footwork,” Brown said. “When something like that happens, it makes me want to conquer it right away, so that day I went to the courts outside of where I live and I just practiced it until I could get it down. The next day I was excited and bragging to the coaches that I had gotten it down and could do it.”
Brown is both the only walk-on and the only Nebraskan playing for the Huskers this season. That story about Brown hitting the outdoor courts didn’t surprise Nebraska coach Amy Williams.
“That’s just the type of work ethic she has, and that’s been the best thing about her,” Williams said.
Once the season began, the freshmen took their extra work inside the practice gym.
Sometimes that’s just lots of shooting or getting a refresher on some plays from the older players.
But at least one time Williams saw the freshmen playing a game against some of the male UNL students who help the team at practice.
“We had a day off after one of our games and I heard the balls bouncing, and that’s not uncommon on a day off that somebody would get in the gym and get shots,” Williams said. “But then all of a sudden I heard a bunch of shoes squeaking and I look through my (office) window and I saw those three freshmen playing a little three-on-three against a few of our scout-team members. So it was kind of funny, and good to see.”
The three freshmen come from Australia (Porter), Minnesota (Stewart) and Nebraska (Brown), but in Lincoln, they’ve formed a bond built on hard work and friendship.
“Those three girls just are workers, and it’s awesome to see,” Williams said. “They fuel each other for that and they’re always in the gym together, or on their own. They all three have that characteristic, and that’s something that we really want to be a part of the culture of our program, so it’s good to see.”
For a few games, the freshmen made up Nebraska’s entire bench after the roster was whittled down by injuries to eight available players.
Porter has started eight games this season due to injuries to Isabelle Bourne and Bella Cravens. Against Maryland, Porter had her best game with 19 points on 3-of-7 shooting on three-pointers.
Stewart’s been a three-point threat from the forward spot. She’s made 19 threes, including several big ones in the second half of games. Stewart scored 10 points in just seven minutes during Nebraska’s win against Penn State on Sunday.
Brown has played both point and shooting guard. She scored a career-high 14 points when Nebraska upset then-No. 15 Ohio State. Brown has Nebraska’s best assist-to-turnover ratio (17-to-8) while ranking third on the team with 12 steals.
Whitney Brown

She joined the Huskers as a recruited walk-on. As a high school senior, Brown averaged 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals.
MiCole Cayton

As a top-100 recruit, Cayton committed to Nebraska in 2015, but changed her mind after Nebraska’s coaching change and played for California. But the Huskers called again after Cayton made the decision to be a graduate transfer. Cayton has been slowed by multiple knee injuries during her college career and hasn’t been cleared for full-court practice.
Bella Cravens

She’s a transfer but received an NCAA waiver to play this season. She comes to Nebraska from Eastern Washington, where she started 43 games over two seasons.
As a sophomore last year at Eastern Washington, Cravens averaged 10.4 points while leading the Big Sky Conference with 8.5 rebounds per game, which ranked 92nd nationally.
“She is a tremendous athlete that led her league in rebounding, so something we really need some help with, and she’s proven to be all of that,” Williams said. “She also has an incredible soft touch around the basket, and has proven to finish a lot better than I was kind of expecting.”
Nailah Dillard

She’s an immediately eligible transfer from Texas Tech. The sophomore played in 23 games with two starts last season. On two occasions she made three three-pointers in a game.
Ruby Porter

She was one the most talented players in Australia's class of 2020, and could end up being the Nebraska freshman who plays the most. Porter chose Nebraska over LSU.
Ashley Scoggin

She played junior college basketball last year at Salt Lake City Community College. Then, after the junior college national tournament was canceled last spring, Scoggin took the lead in her goal of getting to NCAA Division I, sending out more than 100 emails to college coaches. Nebraska replied and landed a good three-point shooter.
Scoggin has battled back from multiple knee injuries. She spends a lot of time in the gym, which has helped to make her a very confident player, coach Amy Williams says.
Annika Stewart

Stewart is expected to give the Huskers a versatile forward with a strong post game and the ability to shoot the three. Stewart enjoyed a strong senior season at Wayzata, averaging 25 points per game over her final 12 games of the season to earn first-team Class 4A all-state honors.
Sam Haiby

After coming off the bench as a freshman, Haiby started all 30 games last season and was one of Nebraska’s most exciting players because of her ability to run the floor and drive to the basket.
She ranked second for the Huskers in scoring (10 points per game) and assists (3.3) and led the team in steals.
She was at her best in leading Nebraska to a win against Missouri, when she scored 28 points and made a three-pointer to send the game to overtime. That was one of 16 games when she scored in double figures.
Trinity Brady

Brady missed Nebraska’s first 10 games as part of the concussion protocol before making her regular-season debut in the win against Manhattan. She played in 17 consecutive games before missing the final three games with tendinitis.
Kate Cain

Cain bounced back from a less productive sophomore year with a good junior season.
The greatest shot-blocker in Nebraska history, Cain has a school-record 280 career blocks, including a season-record 101 in 2019-20. She led the Big Ten and ranked third in the NCAA with 3.4 blocks per game.
She had five double-doubles in 2019-20, including season highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds to go with six blocks in a win over No. 24 Minnesota.
Isabelle Bourne

Watching her play as a freshman was one of the encouraging signs for the future of the Husker program, especially in the conference season, when she scored in double figures four times.
Bourne made an immediate impact for the Huskers as a freshman, averaging 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds while playing in all 30 games.
Nebraska’s final game of the season, a loss against Michigan in Nebraska’s first game of the Big Ten Tournament, was one of Bourne’s best games. She had career highs with 16 points and five blocks.
Trinity Brady

Brady missed Nebraska’s first 10 games as part of the concussion protocol before making her regular-season debut in the win against Manhattan. She played in 17 consecutive games before missing the final three games with tendinitis.
Makenzie Helms

The former Connecticut Gatorade player of the year had a slow start to her college career after having multiple surgeries to alleviate pain in her legs caused by compartment syndrome, but played in each of Nebraska’s final seven games last season.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSSportsWagner.