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.
