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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1994)
Nebraskan Monday, Fobniary 11,1M4 Sports NU nearly foils No. 3 Colorado By Derek Samson Senior Reporter Everything was perfect for the Nebraska women’s basketball team during the final 12 seconds of Sun day’s 63-61 loss to third-ranked Col orado. Meggan Yedsena was bringing the ball up in an attempt for a game-tying last shot in front of a season-high 5,409 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. After Yedsena hit Kate Galligan on the wing, Galligan drove into the* lane and took the shot Nebraska want ed. But with a second left, Galligan’s shot rattled in and out, and the Husk ers’ chance for an upset fell short. The loss dropped Nebraska to 15 12 and 6-7 in the conference, while Colorado stayed on top of the Big Eight. “Our last-minute situations were good,” Coach Angela Beck said. “We had a quality shot, but it just didn’t go down. I’m real proud ofoureffort. It’s a disappointment, but I felt we did a lot of things well.” Freshman Emily Thompson scored Nebraska’s final three baskets and combined with Nafeesah Brown to score 14oftheHuskers’last 16points. A Thompson basket with 50 sec onds left made the score 61-59 in Colorado’s favor, and thenColorado’s« Shelley Sheetz was fouled with 23 seconds remaining. Sheetz made both free throws, but Thompson answered to cut the Buffa loes’ lead to 63-61 with 16 seconds left. Sheetz was fouled but missed the front end ofherone-and-one free throw to set up Nebraska’s final possession. “It’s a disappointing loss for our seniors,” Beck said. “It’s not a nega tive loss. This is a good loss. To play the third-ranked team in the country within two points and have the shot you want at the end to tie is not a bad loss.” Colorado used an 11-0 run in the first half to jump to a 33-28 lead. The Buffaloes also shut down Brown, holding her to three points on l-of-8 shooting in the first half. The 20-3 Buffaloes increased their lead to 41-32 five minutes into the second half, but Yedsena rallied Ne braska back. Yedsena scored six straight points, and Thompson completed a 13-4 run to give Nebraska a 47-45 advantage with 8:55 remaining. Yedsena led Nebraska with 17 points and five assists, while Thomp son and Brown added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Sheetz led four Buffa loes in double figures with 17. “We had a good crowd, and in a close game that goes down to the wire, it makes it extra hard to take,” guard Lis Brendensaid. “We’ve beaten them here for the past few years, and they know they have a hard time playing here. We just couldn’t get it done in the end.” Kiley Timpedey/DN Nebraska’s Kate Galligan drives up the court as she is chased by Colorado’s DeCelle Thomas during the Huskers’ 63-61 loss on Sunday. ‘Physical’ Cowboys dominate NU From Staff Roportt The Nebraska men’s basketball team got burned Saturday afternoon by the sizzling shooting of Oklahoma State. The Cowboys smoked the Comhuskers 98-80 before a sellout crowd of 6,381 at Gallagher-Iba Are na in Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State shot a red-hot 63 percent from the field and drilled 11 of 22 three-point attempts. Eric Piatkowski, who had a team high 17 points, provided a memorable moment for the Huskers when he moved into third place on the all-time Nebraska scoring chart. But the Husk ers did little else worth remembering. Nebraska, which fell to 4-6 in the conference and 14-8 overall, shot 46.7 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point land. The Huskers were outrebounded 35-27 by the Cowboys and played poor defense, Nebraska coach Danny Nee said. “Every area of the game, they just played solid,” Nee said. “They broke us down. I thought we handled their pressure fair, but we couldn’t guard them.” Oklahoma State, who improved to 7-3 in the Big Eight and 18-7 overall, poured it on from start to finish. Center Bryant Reeves showed the Cowboys’ inside strength from the outset with a dunk five seconds into the game. Oklahoma State’s duo of Reeves and forward Fred Burley outscored Husker forwards Bruce Chubick and Terrance Badgett 38-14. Nee said Nebraska’s finesse could not match up with the Cowboys’ pow er. “They manhandled us. They have owned us with their physicalness,” Nee said. “They are holding and claw ing and grabbing the whole time, and they do a great job at it.” The Cowboys built a 35-14 lead with 9:02 remaining in the half before Piatkowski and guard Jaron Boone, who scored all 14 of his points before halftime, led the Huskers back. W ith 4:02 left in the half, the Husk ers cut the Cowboys’lead to 41-32, but that was as close as Nebraska would come the rest of the way. Nebraska tried to play for the last shot of the half, but Erick Strickland traveled. Oklahoma State’s Terry Collins then hit a 12-footer to give the Cowboys a 54-41 lead at the buzzer. “I felt ifwe could have got the game down to within 10 in the first half, then we could have maneuvered our way back in,” Nee said. “If you get it down to within 10, eight, seven points and hold on until the last eight min utes, then we could try to make a run.” Nebraska shot well to start the sec ond half, but the Cowboys shot even better, and the Huskers trailed 80-55 with 11:14 left. The last 10 minutes were filled with Cowboy substitutions and Husk er frustrations, but Nee said the Husk- • ers were looking forward to a March 2 rematch in Lincoln. “What I like is that in 10 days, they are back in Lincoln," Nee said. “The next time we play Oklahoma State, we are going to be fighting for our lives.” NU heavyweight knocks ofFNo. 3 Efforts of ninth ranked Thompson led team to victory By Tim Pearson Sflior Reporter Nebraska heavyweight Tolly Th ompson felt terrible alter losing to Missouri’s Jeremey Lay Wednesday. But a win over No. 3 Justin Greenlee of Northern Iowa Saturday more than made up for that loss. Thompson, a redshirt freshman ranked ninth in the country, led the Comhuskers to a 29-6 victory over the No. 13 Panthers before a crowd of 1,200 at the Bob De vaney Sports Cen ter. W ith the score tied at four,Greenlee was penalized for grabbing the uni form to give Thompson the 6-4 win. “He had grabbed it two times be fore,” Thompson said. “The time was coming when he’d get caught.” Thompson, who is one win away from tying the Nebraska record for most wins by a freshman, defeated Greenlee for the first time in three matches. Husker coach Tim Neumann said Thompson, who beat a wrestler ranked above him for the first time this sea son, looked much better Saturday than he did Wednesday against Lay. “We let him freshen up the last two days,” he said. “He didn’t lift or wres tle live, and he looked 10 times more healthy than he did against Missouri. “With Greenlee, the whole idea was to go in on the leg when he was fresh in the first period.". Thompson said the strategy worked. “I got turn taken down, and I rode him,” he said. “I figured he’d come out thinking he could win. I didn't get tired tonight. I wrestled the whole match and didn’t even think about being tired.” Along with Thompson, Neumann said he was pleased with senior 118 pounder Scott Gonyo and 126-pound er Steve Baer. Gonyo avenged a Great Plains Open loss to Scott Murray with a 10-4 win, and Baer won a major decision over Andrew Showalter, 12-3. Neumann said the match also served as a tuneup for the Big Eight and national meets because the Huskers wrestled the Panthers on two mats instead of one. “It’s just like the Big Eights with two mats and two whistles,” he said. “I want the kids to wrestle through the whistles." Sports Briefs Baseball team drops first three contests From Staff Reports The Nebraska baseball team startedits 1994season on the wrong foot during its weekend series against OralRoberts in Tulsa, Okla. The Huskers stumbled through out the series as the Eagles swept the three-game set by scores of 11 1,11-6 and 5-4. But the biggest loss of the trip came when Nebraska All-Ameri can pitcher Troy Brohawn broke his left foot while running the bases in the third inningofFriday’sgame. Brohawn, who was 13-0 last sea son, is expected to be out of the lineup for four to six weeks. In addition to being the Husk ers’ ace, Brohawn was also the First Team All-Big Eight designated hit ter last season, hitting .329 with 34 RBIs. The loss was the first of Brohawn’s college career. Third-place finish shatters NU gymnasts’ win streak From Staff Reports The perfect season of the Ne braska women’s gymnastics team came to a screeching halt Saturday night in Salt Lake City, as the Husk ers finished last in a triangular meet behind No. 2 Utah and No. 15 Arizona. The Utes won with a 194.625 total, Arizona finished second with 187.375 points, and the Huskers managed 186.850 points. “ItTs unfortunate that we per formed like this here,” Nebraska coach Dan Kendig said. “I know something affected us, but I am not sure. I saw this coming this week in practice, though.” Freshman Shelley Bartlett, who placed sixth in the all-around, led the Huskers, while Nicole Duval and Kim DeHaan tied for seventh. Joy Taylor finished 11th. Kendig said the Huskers couldn ’ t make a habit of performing poorly in big meets, or they might not return to Salt Lake City for the national meet at the Huntsman Center April 21-24. “I don*t know why we didn’t hit the routines we missed,” he said, ’’but 1 can say I am glad it happened now and not later in the season.” Women’s tennis team gets wins with shutout, comeback From Staff Reports The Nebraska women’s tennis team picked up two wins over the weekend to improve its spring sea son record to 3-1. The Cornhuskers defeated Creighton 9-0 and came from be hind to defeat Southwest Missouri State 5-4 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday. Nebraska trailed Southwest Mis souri State 2-1 following the dou bles matches, but the Huskers won the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 singles matches to escape with a one-point victory.