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.
