Net?raskan
Thursday, February 17,1994
Sports
Road to NCAAs to be bumpv for NU
By Mitcn anerman
Staff Reporter
In each of Nebraska’s last three
seasons, which all ended with NCAA
tournament appearances, the
Comhuskers won at least seven Big
Eight games and 19 overall.
This year, the Huskers are 14-7
overall and have four conference vic
tories with only five games remain
ing.
So just how many wins will it take
for Nebraska to qualify for one of the
32 at-large births in the NCAA tour
nament?
“I don t know the answer,” Ne
braska coach
Danny Nee said. “I
think it’s crazy to
talk about it now. In
10 days or two
weeks, we are go
ing to know exactly
what has to hap
pen.”
The Huskers will
find out quickly.
Nee Looming next on
Nebraska’s schedule is Oklahoma
State, which has beaten the Huskers in
seven out of their past eight meetings.
Following Saturday’s game in
Stillwater, Okla., the road doesn’t get
any smoother. Nebraska returns home
to play Kansas, ranked second in the
nation; Kansas State; and the Cow
boys again.
To top it off, the Huskers finish out
the regular season by facing red-hot
Missouri in Columbia, Mo.
Nee stressed the importance of the
Big Eight tournament, which will be
held March 11 -13 in Kansas City, Mo.
”1 think the Big Eight tournament
is going to have more of an impact on
who gets in than any other year,” he
said.
- ii
It’s like maneuvering your way through a
minefield.
—Nee
NU men’s basketball coach
Last season, Missouri finished the
regular season with a 16-13 record.
The Tigers won the Big Eight tourna
ment in order to qualify for the NCAA
tournament.
“It’s like maneuvering your way
through a minefield,” Nee said. “We
will probably have to use the tourna
ment to play our way in or out.”
During the past four games, Nee
See TOURNEY HOPES on 8
Seniors lead
Nebraska to
win over MU
By Derek Samson
Senior Report*_
As the game clock ticked down in the Ne
braska women’s basketball game with Missouri
Wednesday night, Meggan Yedsena and
Nafeesah Brown perhaps saw their careers do
ing the same.
The two seniors, wno win piay meir nnai
home game Sunday against Colorado, led a late
rally that allowed Nebraska to beat Missouri 77
72 in a must-win game for the Huskers.
Trail ing 63-58 with 3:48 remaining, Y edsena
made the first of two free throws to start the
Huskers, now 15-11 overall and 6-6 in the Big
Eight, on an 11-0 run to sink the seventh-place
Tigers, who dropped to 3-8 and 9-14.
During the stretch, Yedsena had nine points,
caused a jump ball and added a steal and assist.
Brown, Nebraska’s only other senior, scored
four points and had a steal that led to a Husker
basket.
“We talked in the Kansas game that we
didn’t have anyone take over, and that’s why we
didn’t win it,” Nebraska coach Angela Beck
said. “We needed someone to take over for us.
1 thought Meggan did take over this game.”
After Yedsena missed her second free throw
with 3:48 remaining, Emily Thompson rebound
ed the miss and scored to pull the Huskers
within two at 63-61.
After Yedsena made two more free throws to
tie it, Brown followed with two straight baskets
to put Nebraska ahead 67-63.
Yedsena finished the run by scoring the next
four points to give Nebraska a 71 -63 advantage.
“We have a thing where we don ’ t want to lose
at home, definitely not down the stretch like
this,” Yedsena said. “These close games are
only going to help us. I think we’re finally
starting to realize the intensity it’s going to
take.”
Despite Nebraska’s eight-point lead, Mis
souri wasn’t finished.
The Tigers’ Erika Martin scored, stole the
inbounds pass and scored again to pull Missouri
to 71-67 with 42 seconds remaining.
Nebraska’s Kate Galligan hit two free throws,
but Missouri came back when Amy Fordham
drained a 3-pointer to cut the Husker lead to 73
70.
See SENIORS on 8
Jay Calderon/DN
Nafeesah Brown looks for an open teammate during the first half of
Nebraska’s 77-72 victory over Missouri Wednesday night.
Baseball coach
views season
with optimism
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
The Nebraska baseball team will have a lot
to build on this year as it opens the 1994 baseball
season against Oral Roberts University in Tul
sa, Okla., at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Oral Roberts should provide a solid test for
the preseason 35th-ranked Comhuskers.
i ne i nans, wno will also
play host to the Huskers in
two 1 p.m. games Saturday
and Sunday, have been tabbed
in some publications as the
third-ranked NCAA indepen
dent team behind Miami and
Notre Dame, Nebraska base
ball coach John Sanders said.
oanuers saiu inc roau
games would give him a
chance to get a better look at
Sanders
his team.
After winning 23 of their final 30 games last
season, the Huskers narrowly missed earning
their first NCAA Regional Tournament berth
since 1985.
Nebraska finished 35-23, and Sanders said
he hoped the momentum the Huskers had last
season would carry over into the new year.
“Last year, we finished up really, really
strong, and we're using that as motivation this
season," Sanders said.
Along with a strong finish, the Huskers will
also have a talented group of re turners on which
to build.
Nebraska’s pitching staff, which was sus
pect at times last season, should be a better all
around group this year, Sanders said.
The ace will be junior All-American Troy
Brohawn.
Brohawn, a left-hander from Woolford, Md.,
was the most winning undefeated pitcher in the
nation last season, posting a 13-0 record with a
3.16 ERA and 123 strikeouts.
Sanders said he expected even bigger things
from Brohawn this season.
“Troy has promised to do even better this
year,” Sanders said. “I’ve told him he has to win
16 in a row or no scholarship.”
The biggest bolster to the Huskers’ staff
could be the return of Sanders’ son Craig.
Craig Sanders missed last season with a knee
See BASEBALL on 8
Harding case taught us one thing: Get a good lawyer
Before 1 begin this week's festivi
ties, 1 thought it was high time I told
you, my expansive readership, a little
about myself.
1 was bom in a small log cabin in
Illinois... no wait, that’s Abe Lincoln.
OK, now I remember. I was bom 23
years ago. My fatter was in the Navy,
and my brother was a cross-dressing,
schizophrenic nun ... hold on, that s
not right ... oh yeah, that’s Kevin
Ramaekers.
Forget it; let’s talk Tonya.
1 don’t mean to beat a dead horse
(or whack it on the knee), but I need to
address the impending moral and le
gal issues surrounding the Tonya
Harding/United States Olympic Com
mittee conflict.
Hey, I’m in law school; these topics
are important to me. Nawwwwww,
that’s crap. I’m only in law school to
impress Jodie Foster.
Here’sabriefsynopsisofthe affair.
The USOC planned to have a hear
ing to decide whether Harding would
be removed from the Olympic team.
Harding got pissed and sued the USOC
for $20 million, and the USOC then
decided to allow Harding to remain on
the team without review.
Gee, I didn’t realize U-S-O-C
spelled “wussy.”
No, no, no, I kid the spineless. The
fact of the matter is that the removal of
Harding from the team would be a
gross infringement of her due process
rights—whatever the hell that means.
I heard it on Court TV.
Anyway, I’d like to goon the record
by saying that I support the USOC
from a legal perspective, but from a
moral view, I have my reservations.
If Harding is guilty of participation
in this crime, allowing her to remain
on the team would be a huge miscar
Beau
Finley
riage of justice. It’s not so much the
crime but the fact that the crime was
committed in the name of unfair com
petition. Basically, should we con
done such methods of gaining access
to our Olympic squad? I say, Good
god, no.
Furthermore, I’d like to go on the
record by saying that 1 think that Brian
Boitano guy is just cute as a button.
But aside from these social issues,
I’m principally concerned with how
we explain this terrible affair to the
youngsters.
I think you need to be cautious not
to speak over the kiddies’ heads, be
cause if they misunderstand this inci
dent or fail to see the moral depravity
involved, they may condone it.
That could be potentially danger
ous. I don’t want to sec the day that
teachers must fear for their shins be
cause kindergartners have made
Harding a role model.
Thus, we must explain the incident
on a level they can easily comprehend:
Once upon a time there was this
girl named Tonya that really liked to
skate, drove a truck and married bald
guys.
She didn’t have many toys, but she
worked very hard to get the ones she
did have.
However, another little girl still
had more toys than she had. No matter
how hard little Tonya worked, the
other little girl had more toys.
So she decided to whack the other
little girl.
That way, if the other little girl
couldn’t play, then little Tonya could
have all the toys (and commercial
endorsements).
However, her parents found out
that little Tonya hurt the other little
¥irl. They decided to not let little
onya play anymore. So little Tonya
hired an expensive lawyer and threat
ened to sue her parents. Her parents
were wussies and ended up letting
little Tonya play anyway.
The moral to the story is: Don’t run
away from competition by whacking
your opponent.
But if you do decide to whack your
opponents, make sure you have really
good legal counsel.
Flaley li a first-year law studeat a ad a
Dally Nebraslua sports coluaialst.