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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1993)
Sports Huskers hope momentum halts Cyclones Winning streak stirs confidence By Jeff Singer Senior Reporter Playing on the road in the Big Eight can often be intimidating, but recently, the Nebraska men’s basket ball team has felt right at home in Ames, Iowa. The Comhuskers have won their last two meetings at Iowa State, and will be looking to make it three in a row tonight at 7:05 p.m. at the Hilton Coliseum. Nebraska was one of two Cyclone opponents to win in Ames last season, and the Huskers have won their last four overall meetings against Iowa State. So does the recent success against the Cyclones make the Huskers con fident? “The last two years we’ve gone down there and won; I just feel that that’s a game that if we play well, we can win there,” Nebraska forward Eric Piatkowski said. Piatkowski, who leads the Huskers in scoring with 15.9 points per game, said if Nebraska is going to win the game, the Huskers have to control the game’s momentum to keep the Iowa State fans quiet. “I think it’s important right from the tip-off for us to get out ahead of them, because Hilton is always sold out and they get great crowds,” he said. Nebraska currently has a two-game winning streak following a 0-3 Big Eight start. The Huskers registered conference victories last week against Colorado and Missouri to improve iheir overall record to 14-6. Nebraska guard Erick Strickland was the star of the Huskers’ 88-87 overtime win over theTigers, coming off the bench to lead Nebraska with 28 points. Strickland said tonight’s game is important to keep Nebraska’s mo mentum going for the rest of the sea son. “I’m looking at trying to get on a winning streak in the Big Eight and just keep winning,” Strickland said. “We’re just trying to lake it game by game, and if we can win Wednes day, that would be a big upliftcr for us.” Home crowd may help ISU From Staff Reports Nebraska’s improved play has Iowa State coach Johnny Orr concerned about tonight’s 7:05 p.m. game against the Comhuskcrs at the Hilton Coli seum. “They’re a good team,” Orr said. “They have good solid players, and they have a lot of them.” Iowa Stale comes in at 12-6 for the season and 2-3 in the Big Eight. Orr said this year has been both up and down for his team. “We’ve been both off and on. I’ve been pleased at limes, and sometimes I haven’t been,” he said. The Cyclones are coming off a 94 77 loss at Oklahoma State last Satur day. Orr, now in his 12th season at Iowa State, said he didn’t know how that loss would affect his team in tonight’s game, but he said he was glad they would be playing at home in a sold out arena. The Cyclones are 10-0 at Hilton Coliseum, with wins over Oklahoma, Oklahoma Stale and Minnesota. “We play much better here than on the road,” he said. “I’d much rather play in front of the home crowd than on the road.” In their last four matches, the Husk ers beat the Cyclones — including an 80-70 win in Ames last year. Orr said that he hoped to reverse that trend this year, even with Ne braska on a two-game winning streak. m Track team to take on . tougher foes U By Chris Hain Staff Reporter Last Saturday two members of the Nebraska men’s and women’s track teams had record performances, but both of those athletes will face tough matchups this Saturday. For the women, freshman Paulette Mitchell broke herownschool record in the shot put with an NCAA-quali fying distance of 52 feet, 3 3/4 inches. This Saturday, Mitchell will face Colorado junior Mclisa Weis, who has a Big Eight best throw of 53-3/4. Comhusker sophomore Robert Thomas broke Von Sheppard’s 1985 school record of 25-4 3/4 by long jumping a distance of 25-6. Thomas will have to face one of the world’s best long jumpers, Arkansas’s Erick Waldcr, who has already leaped a distanccof 26-11 this year. Both Colorado and Virginia will ■ bring their men’s and women’s teams ■ to Lincoln this weekend, and I Arkansas’s men and Iowa’s women I will also be competing in men’s and 1 women’s quadrangulars. I “There will be some great athletes I in this meet,” Comhusker coach Gary V Pepin said. The Huskers are coming off sec ond-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s divisions in last Saturday’s quadrangular in Champaign, III. Along with Mitchell, event win ners for the Husker women were Theresa Sidling in the mile, Kwani Stewart in the long jump and Nicola Martial in the triple jump. For the men, three Huskers joined Thomas as a first place finishers. They were Kevin Coleman in the shot pul, Steve Gordon in the triple jump, and Kevin Miller in the 3,000 meters. Stad McKee/DN Nebraska's Lisbet Brenden (13) tries to keep a foul from being called on her as Southwest Missouri State's Melody Howard fights to regain control of the ball. Nebraska's Rissa Taylor (22) looks on. Record-setting Jennings lifts NU past Bears By Jeff Griesch Staff Reporter The Nebraska women’s basketball team survived a strong second half run by Southwest Missouri State and escaped with a 88-84 win on Tuesday night. The Comhuskers blew a 16-point halftime lead before rallying for an 10-0 run late in the game to put the game away before 1,842 fans at the Bob Dcvaney Sports Center. Behind the strong shooting of Karen Jennings, the Huskcrs raced to a 53-37 halftime lead. Jennings scored 35 points and became Nebraska’s all time leading scorer when she hit a free throw midway through the first half. Jennings was presented with a game ball during a timeout and said that she was moved by the appreciation of the Nebraska fans. “I was really touched that all the fans gave me a standing ovation,” Jennings said. “I didn’t expect it to be such a big deal.” Nebraska coach Angela Beck said that Jennings’ impressive performance surprised her. “For her to play as well as she did was kind of a surprise to me,” Beck said. “Sometimes when a kid comes into to a game with a record on her mind she won’t play well.” Along with the play of Jennings, Ne braska used a an aggressive full court f>ress to force 16 Bear turnovers in the irst half. “We had a tremendous first half,” Beck said. “1 knew that they had more in them, and they were going to come after us, and they came out and played a great second half.” The Bears applied a trapping press of their own after halftime, forcing Nebraska into 12 second half turn overs, erasing the Husker lead and tying the game at 78 with 2:56 re maining in the game. Beck said poor offensive execu tion by the Huskers let the Bears back in the game. “We didn’t execute on offense, and we look some bad shots,” Beck said. “But I have lo credit their de fense for causing us not to execute.” Nebraska never surrendered the lead and hit 10 consecutive free throws to regain an 88-78 lead with 27 sec onds left. Beck said that Nebraska teams of the past would not have been able lo find a way to win in a similar situa tion. “The difference between this year ’ s team and last year’s, is that this team let them cut the 20-point lead, and ' then shut the door on them,” Beck said. Meggan Yedsena h i t four of the 10 free throws down the stretch and fin ished the game with 13 points and 12 assists. “Yedsena had a great game,” Beck said. “She really ran the offense well in the first half.” Sccclia Winkficld led Southwest Missouri State with 32 points and Melody Howard added 20. Winkficld kept the Bears in the game in the first half by scoring 18 points. Beck said that Winkficld’s perfor mance was one of the best games she has ever seen by an opposing player since she had been at Nebraska. Athletic skilUdefensive hustle make Strickland top dog I look a trip down Dead Dog Alley Saturday. Oh sure, I had been to that haven of heinous hounds before. But I was just a puppy at the lime. So I never, ever dreamed that I’d stand in the alley sandwiched be tween the “swat team” and two guys with basketballs on their heads. And I never ever imagined that Nebraska’s real pack of puppies — the Husker freshmen — would make these hounds howl. Let’s just say this bulldog was expecting to see a puppy show Satur day. Up until Nebraska’s last two games, the Husker freshmen were paraded around more for their poten tial than anything they had proven. But their performances Saturday added some bite to that bark. Although he shouldn’t start, r Terrance Badgett played lough, ag gressive defense in helping the Husk ers jump loa 51 -33 lead, jusi before he fouled out. And long after Nebraska blew that lead, Jaron Boone showed composure — not a very common Comhusker commodity these days—in theclutch. But only one freshman had the dead dogs around me drooling. Every lime the Huskers stumbled, the dogs began barking. And who were those hounds howl ing for? Erick Strickland, the pros pect who has turned out to be the pick of Nee’s litter. Make no bones about it, Strickland's just a pup. His struggles at the line — 3 for 7 in the last Tew minutes — showed his age. But in terms of athletic ability, this pup’s a pro. Todd Cooper Even a Tiger—the snarl iest one of all, no less—admitted that Saturday. “Strickland’s a good ballplayer,” said Norm Slcwari, an uncommon compliment from a coach who nor mally growls more than he gloats about players. “He’s a pro baseball player, so he’s a good athlete also.” Make that the best athlete among the Huskcrs. But Strickland’s athleticism goes beyond the baseball diamond, where he plays minor league ball for the Florida Marlins. He’s the quickest Huskcr. His cat-like quickness snarled the Oklahoma Slate Cowboys, just like it checked Colorado’s Donnie Boyce. He’s the most focused Huskcr. Besides his lapse at the line Satur day, Strickland was poised during prime time. And that was only because he was prepared. While the other Huskernew comcrs showed off and slacked off during Saturday’s pregame shootaround, Strickland shot solo at the other end of the floor. And he shot smart. But his focus is best seen after he makes his shots. When other Huskers make a bucket, they either prime their polish rifles, punch the air and hop down the court or salute their “swat team.” When Strickland makes a shot, he does his “duty” and plays defense. For that reason alone, he should start. Strickland admitted he’s comfort able coming off the bench. But clearly, Husker opponents wouldn’t get out to their comfortable early cushions — witness Missouri’s 9-2 lead after three minutes and Kan sas State’s 15-6 lead after six minutes — if Strickland was in to put the bite on their leads. Until he starts, Husker opponents will continue to dog Nebraska’s de fense early. And Husker hounds will continue to howl. Cooper is a Junior news-editorial major, the Daily Nebraskan wire editor and a sports columnist.