Alexis Markowski on NCAA tournament motivation and more

Husker Diary: Alexis Markowski

Junior | Lincoln | 6-foot-3 center

Of note: Markowski earned second-team all-Big Ten honors last season and is having another excellent season — she ranks in the top 8 in the Big Ten in scoring (17.2 per game), rebounds (10.2) and field-goal percentage (49%). She’s scored at least 13 points in each of Nebraska’s 17 games this season.

“The end of last season was really hard. It was a lot of hard conversations because we underperformed last year. We had all of the right pieces, and we never fully put it together. (Jaz Shelley) and I got together and talked about things we wanted to change, and how we wanted to lead this team. And that we believed in this team and this program. We really have deepened our friendship and our collaboration.

“Not making it to the (NCAA) tournament really sucked, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen again, because I don’t want to play in the WNIT. And I know a lot of other people don’t want to do that either.

“I feel pretty good about this season. Being 4-2 in Big Ten play is a pretty good start, but I think the games that we’ve lost we’re very capable of winning those.

“I was really into swimming growing up, actually (at the Lincoln Racquet Club and Hillcrest Country Club). And I was like huge, so my mom would have to bring my birth certificate around because people would get mad. I would win, and people would be like, ‘She’s not 10 years old.’ I was like, ‘Yes she is.’ I really liked swimming, and then volleyball. I played volleyball in high school, and I did club volleyball for as long as I could. Even my junior year when I knew that I was going to play college basketball I decided I was still going to do club volleyball, because I had fun.

“Playing other sports really helped me to not burn out (on basketball). And also helped with injury prevention — I’ve been very blessed to be healthy for three years at this level. And with my footwork — volleyball really helped that. I did really love volleyball.

“Me and my dad (former Nebraska men’s basketball player Andy Markowski of Ord), our relationship has gotten better since he’s not my head coach anymore. We share a different connection when it comes to playing here and being homegrown. He’s just really proud of me and my growth.

“I think my favorite…