Britt Prince Hits Four First-Quarter 3s as No. 25 Nebraska Routs North Carolina A&T 76-35 in Its First Game Back in the Top 25

LINCOLN, Neb. Nebraska waited a day to play its first game with a number next to its name, and Britt Prince made sure the debut did not last long as a contest. The junior hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, and the No. 25 Huskers rolled past North Carolina A&T 76-35 on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Prince finished with a game-high 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting. Amiah Hargrove posted her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Ashlyn Koupal added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Nebraska improved to 3-0. The Aggies fell to 1-2.

Here is the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Nebraska's official recap (opens in a new tab).

Fourteen points before the fans sat down

The game was effectively decided in the opening minutes. Nebraska scored 15 of the first 16 points, and Prince was the engine, scoring 11 straight at one point, a burst capped by three consecutive 3-pointers. She closed the quarter with a fourth triple, finishing with 14 first-quarter points, and the Huskers led 20-6 after 10 minutes. Every one of her 3s on the night came in that first period.

The second quarter was quieter for Prince but not for the Nebraska defense. The Huskers opened the period with a 10-0 run, with Prince chipping in a bucket, and the lead was 30-6 with six minutes left in the half. A&T closed the half a little better, but Nebraska still led 34-15 at the break. Fifteen points in two quarters is a long night for any offense, and the perimeter offered no relief. A&T finished 1 of 11 from deep.

Hargrove takes over the third

If the first quarter belonged to Prince, the third belonged to Hargrove. The 6-foot-2 junior from Christopher, Ill., scored nine points in the period on her first four shots, and Nebraska won the quarter 23-9. Hargrove's 3 with 2:52 left made it 51-24 and started a 9-0 run to end the period. Senior Logan Nissley supplied the final two points of that run at the free throw line, and Nebraska took a 57-24 lead into the fourth.

Hargrove finished 6 of 8 from the field, hit a 3, and grabbed eight defensive rebounds among her 10 boards. The double-double was overdue. Hargrove came into the night averaging 16.0 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds through two games, per Nebraska, and this was the kind of efficient, low-drama production that makes the Huskers hard to guard. When defenses load up on Prince, Hargrove is the release valve, and A&T never found an answer for either one.

Freshmen, a career night and a season debut

The fourth quarter was a showcase for Nebraska's depth. Freshman Maddi Stewart's eight points all came in the period, on two 3s and two free throws. Koupal, the freshman from Wagner, S.D., kept producing as well. Koupal went 4 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 at the line in 24 minutes, and the eight rebounds included three on the offensive glass. Through three games, Koupal has looked like anything but a freshman.

Kennadi Williams did not score, and did not even attempt a shot, but she might have had the most satisfying night of anybody. Williams handed out a career-high seven assists against one turnover in her third straight start, running the offense calmly from start to finish.

Those free throws were Nissley's first points in her first appearance on the court this season, a nice moment in a game that gave Nebraska's coaching staff room to work everyone in. Natalie Potts chipped in six points and six rebounds in 17 minutes, and Allison Weidner added six points, two assists and two steals.

The numbers behind a 41-point win

Nebraska shot 56.9 percent from the field, going 29 of 51, and made 11 of 12 free throws. The Huskers were 7 of 22 from 3, and four of those makes came from Prince in a single quarter. The other three 3s came from Stewart and Hargrove.

The glass was a mismatch. Nebraska outrebounded A&T 41-18, and the Aggies grabbed only five offensive rebounds all night. When an opponent gets one shot per trip and is shooting 31.1 percent, a 41-point margin is what happens.

A&T's defense did make some noise. The Aggies forced 19 Nebraska turnovers, a season high for the Huskers according to the school, and came up with 11 steals. Jada Bates had three of them. That is the one line Nebraska's staff will circle. The Huskers were sloppy at times, and better opponents will turn those giveaways into points.

For A&T, Darrionna Howard led the way with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting, and Paris Locke added eight points and six rebounds. Yves Cox scored seven off the bench. The Aggies shot 14 of 45 overall and 6 of 16 at the free throw line, and committed 18 turnovers of their own. Tarrell Robinson, now in a 15th season leading the program, will have a better read on this group once A&T gets into a stretch of games against teams closer to its weight class.

What a ranking means in this Big Ten

Nebraska entered the AP poll at No. 25 on Nov. 9, replacing NC State, after sitting 26th in the preseason poll. The Huskers spent seven straight weeks in the Top 25 last season before dropping out of the Jan. 26, 2026, rankings, so this is a return rather than a breakthrough. It also arrives in an absurdly crowded league. Nebraska is one of 10 ranked Big Ten teams, a group that includes No. 2 Michigan after its upset of UConn and No. 18 Minnesota, which routed Southern the same night.

The start has been convincing. Nebraska beat San Jose State in the opener, then forced 33 turnovers in a 98-35 win over defending Ohio Valley champion Western Illinois before handling A&T. Prince has scored 66 points in three games, an average of 22 per night, and was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list in October. Head coach Amy Williams has a roster that can score from the perimeter through Prince and from the post through Hargrove, with freshmen who already look comfortable in big minutes.

The balance is what should worry future opponents. Through the first two games, Nebraska had five players averaging at least 7.5 points, per the school, with Potts and Koupal at 11.5 apiece, Emily Fisher at 8.5 and Weidner at 7.5 to go with 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals a night. On Tuesday the Huskers did not need most of that depth to break a sweat. Prince scored 19 in just 20 minutes against Western Illinois and 24 in 28 minutes here, which means the star is putting up big numbers without being run into the ground in November.

That matters for a team that plays its Big Ten schedule in a conference this deep. Keeping Prince fresh, letting Williams and Weidner handle more of the ball, and giving freshmen like Koupal and Stewart real minutes now are all investments that pay off in February.

Next up: Kansas in Sioux Falls

The schedule changes now. Nebraska leaves Lincoln for the first time this season to face its oldest rival, Kansas, in the Marketbeat Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 3:30 p.m. Central at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The game streams on B1G+ and airs on the Huskers Radio Network.

Kansas is a power conference opponent and a far better measuring stick than anything Nebraska has seen through three home games. It is also a chance to show that the ranking was earned, not borrowed. If the Huskers can protect the ball better than they did on Tuesday and keep getting this kind of production from Prince and Hargrove, they have the look of a team that will stay in the poll for a while.

For one night, the debut went about as smoothly as a ranked debut can go: a hot start from the star, a double-double from the big, and a bench that carried the fourth quarter. Follow every Huskers story on our Nebraska team page.

Sources: ESPN box score, Nebraska Athletics (game recap and AP poll release).

Photo: Nebraska Athletics.