A pair of former Century girls basketball standouts will be on the big stage on Friday.
Logan Nissley and Lauren Ware will square off against each other in the opening round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Nissley’s Nebraska Cornhuskers and Ware’s Texas A&M Aggies square off at 9:30 p.m. Central in Corvallis, Ore. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
“It’s going to be exciting. It should be some really good basketball to watch,” Century coach Nate Welstad said. “The fact that there’s two Century products playing makes it really fun for the city of Bismarck.”
Nissley, the 2023 North Dakota Miss Basketball winner, is having an outstanding freshman season with Nebraska (22-11), which goes into the tournament as a No. 6 seed.
Ware, a 2020 Century grad, is a redshirt junior in her first season with Texas A&M (19-12) after transferring from Arizona.
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“The girls have followed Logan’s season all year,” Welstad said. “The twist that they’re going to be playing each other, that’s crazy to see.
“I think everybody’s excited to see two of our best at the highest level.”
Nissley, a 6-foot guard, has played in all 33 of Nebraska’s games this season. She had a career-high 18 points in February against Purdue and scored 15 points in Nebraska’s 82-79 upset win over Caitlin Clark and the No. 2-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Feb. 11.
“It’s a freshman path,” Welstad said. “It took her a while to find her role. Once she made her move into the starting lineup and seeing how she played against Iowa, she seems to fit what the team needs right now. She’s playing some of her best basketball right now.
“It’s nice to see Logan’s progression, getting better as the season goes along.”
Ware has started 30 games for Texas A&M and is averaging 9.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. The Aggies go into the tournament as a No. 11 seed.
“A lot of people are pulling for both of them,” Welstad said. “It will be interesting to see who comes out on top there.
“Girls basketball in general has really bought into the idea that you can do anything you want to, the stage is not too big and they have shown that. They’re enthusiastic, they can play. When they were here, they were so good interacting with the youth. They’re so personable, they’re good individuals. They’re who you want your girls to look up to. It’s great for Century and great for the entire state.”
The winner of the Nebraska-Texas A&M game will take on either No. 3 seed Oregon State (24-7) or No. 14 Eastern Washington (29-5) on Sunday, March 24 in the second round of the Albany 1 Regional.
Incidentally, Eastern Washington has a North Dakotan on its roster as well — Dickinson's Gabrielle Jung is a redshirt junior for the Eagles.
“The teams come from two different conferences, it’s good to see the different styles, see which one plays out,” Welstad said. “It’s going to be a good game.
“I hope our girls perform well on the big stage. They always have, so I suspect they will.”
Reach sports editor Scott Throlson at 701-250-8245 or scott.throlson@bismarcktribune.com.