LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Making the women's NCAA Tournament really wasn't Nebraska's goal at the start of the season. Coming off the worst year in program history, the Cornhuskers' wish list was filled with what would be considered more basic needs.
Like team chemistry, learning how to play sound defense, winning some road games.
The NCAA Tournament? Maybe someday.
''We knew that's what we were building toward,'' second-year coach Amy Williams said. ''To expect for that to happen right away this year, we wouldn't have said that's a guaranteed goal. This team sets their sights high, and we know how hard they've worked in the offseason. As we were progressing through the non-conference it became a more realistic goal for this team.''
The Huskers are tied with Rutgers for the biggest turnaround in the country and they earned a No. 10 seed for the tournament. They will play No. 7 seed Arizona State (21-12) on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Nebraska goes in at 21-10, a 14-win improvement over last season's 7-22 record. In Big Ten play, the Huskers went from 3-13 and tied for last to 11-5 and tied for third. After going 0-13 away from Lincoln last season, the Huskers are 11-4 in road and neutral-site games.
They passed last season's win total in mid-December on their way to a 9-3 start, and a January victory over Iowa was their first over a Top 25 opponent under Williams.
''After the season we had last year, I think we were just working on being the best we could be and whatever happened this year happened,'' sophomore guard Hannah Whitish said. ''Seeing all the Ws in the book gave this team more confidence. Seeing how hard everybody was working, I had never been around that. So I knew it was going to be something special.''
Nebraska won five straight and eight of nine at one point and was playing for first place in the Big Ten when it lost 64-57 to then-No. 10 Maryland in early February. The Huskers lost three of their last seven games but locked up their NCAA at-large bid with their 61-54 win over then-No. 24 Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament.
Williams said success built on itself throughout the season.
''With not having any superstars, not having that dynamic on the team, it's just a team that genuinely has been for each other and excited for each other's successes,'' Williams said, ''and that has created a chemistry and culture to allow our team to really turn the corner.''
The Huskers lost their star from last season when center Jessica Shepard transferred to Notre Dame. Shepard averaged 18.6 points a game; no one else was in double figures. This season's team has four players averaging between 9.8 and 12 points.
''We have a couple kids capable of going off for 25 points or more, but we play our very best basketball when we get contributions from different places - points off the bench, rebounds from all over the place and defensive stoppers who are finding ways to affect the game,'' Williams said. ''For us to be successful in this tournament, we're going to need everybody contributing their very best.''
Cornhuskers seniors Jasmine Cincore and Emily Wood are the only players who were on the previous Nebraska team to make the tournament. That was in 2014-15, when Cincore and Wood played minor roles as freshmen and the Huskers lost in the first round.
''For us as seniors to leave knowing that this program is back where we want it to be, back playing in the NCAA Tournament, that's great to be able to leave it on this note,'' Wood said.
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This version corrects spelling of Jessica Shepard's last name.
