Mike Kluck
Gusso won’t
let knee injury
keep her down
Pop.
As soon as she heard the sound,
Nebraska senior guard Amy Gusso
knew exactly what had happened.
After all, she grew up around
basketball in Spearfish, S.D. Her
father coached, both the girls’ and
boys’ basketball teams in her home
town so she was in the gym from
August to March.
Gusso had seen and heard
enough about the pop athletes hear
when they rip their anterior cruci
ate ligament apart that when the
noise came from her knee on Jan.
21, it could mean only one thing.
“I knew right then it was done,”
Gusso said. ‘“Why now’ was all I
could think of. Not now. Last year,
or my first year it would have been
easier to accept.”
And the tears that flowed
weren’t from the pain of her throb
bing knee but from the realization
that her career as a Nebraska bas
ketball player might be over.
Although Gusso averaged less
than 10 minutes of court time per
game, she received quality minutes.
The 5-foot-6 senior spelled senior
point guard LaTova Doaee through
out the season while also giving the
team an emotional lift whether she
was in or out of the game.
Gusso didn’t get a lot of min
utes, but part of the success of the
Huskers’ school-record start of 16
1 has to do with her.
Next Thursday Gusso is sched
uled to have surgery to repair her
knee; then she faces months of re
habilitation.
It’s another challenge Gusso is
learning to overcome.
After all, she came to Nebraska
and earned a scholarship in her sec
ond year. Then a stellar freshman re
cruiting class came in this season ami
she had to give up her scholarship.
This was to be her last season in
uniform. Gusso is scheduled to gradu
ate in December and hopes then to be
accepted into medical school.
Buther plans changed Jan. 21 as
she lay in a heap at NU’s practice.
Since she didn’t play her fresh
man year, she can return next year
again as a senior.
“My career can’t end like this,”
Gusso said. “The coaches talked to
me about coming back, and need
ing a senior leader next season.”
With those words, Gusso is
more determined than ever to re
turn next year. She is going to stay
in Lincoln this summer undergoing
rehab, and a new lease on her se
nior season sounds nice.
Gusso was a motivational leader
this season, and being a team leader
again next year isn’t out of the
realm of possibility.
Kluck is a journalism gradu
ate student and a Daily Nebras
kan senior reporter.
DeForge scores 29 as
Nebraska wins its
seventh straight game.
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
AMES, Iowa — Nebraska Coach
Angela Beck thought the Comhuskers’
game at Iowa State would be similar
to two pitbulls fighting for superior
ity.
Despite the Cyclones 9-8 record
they hadn’t lost a game by more than
11 points this season. Especially at the
Hilton Coliseum where ISU had lost
by three to 12th-ranked Kansas and by
two to Colorado in double overtime.
i
Thursday night, the Cyclones were
overrun by die Huskers speedy defense
as NU ran away with a 76-52 win.
The win,
which improved
the Huskers to 16
1 overall and 6-1
in the Big 12 Con
ference, should
send a message to
the rest of the
league, Beck said.
“We’re one of
the dogs,” Beck -
said. “We’re not DeForgd
one of the little ones, we’re one of the
big ones right now. We’ve gone from
the middle of the pack to being some
thing.
“People say 'can you handle play
ing in a close game?’ Well, we didn’t
make it close.”
The Huskers, who are tied with
Kansas for the lead in the North Divi
sion wanted to send a message to ev
eryone in the conference by whipping
the Cyclones, Nebraska junior Anna
DeForge said.
The 5-foot-11 forward led the
Huskers with a game-high 29 points
including 20 in the second half.
“Coach Beck told us before the
game how other Cyclone opponents
had struggled here,” said DeForge,
who made 10 of 14 shots from the field
and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
“That got us more focused on the game
and we wanted to come in here and
have a good game.”
Iowa State appeared to be setting
I
NUfeces
tough odds
at Kansas
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Listening to Nebraska Basket
ball Coach Danny Nee talk about
the Comhuskers’ opponent Satur
day, one may
think NU is
preparing to
battle the Chi
cago Bulls.
Wrong. It’s
just Kansas.
“This
team, when it
- Plays poorly,
marKOWSKi it p]ayS to
gether,” Nee
said. “It’s not disjointed, ever.
Their system is a constant. Things
are going to be there. Every day,
they are going to be there. That’s
what makes a great team, and they
have that.”
To say the Jayhawks are roll
ing is a gross understatement. At
21-0 and ranked No. 1 with all 70
first-place votes in The Associated
Press Top 25, Kansas cruises into
Saturday’s 3 p.m. meeting with
Nebraska at a sold-out and sure
to-be-loud Allen Fieldhouse in
Lawrence, Kan.
Nebraska, on the other hand,
backs in, losers of its last three
league games and on the verge of
spinning into a season of disap
pointment and missed opportuni
ties.
So when the Comhuskers (11
8 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12
Conference) attempt to slay the
giant on Saturday, virtually no one
/ outside of the NU locker room
gives them a chance. Behind the
doors, the Huskers say they feel
quietly confident, drooling at the
opportunity to pull off the upset of
the year in college basketball.
We have nothing to lose,” for
ward Andy Markowski said. “We
just have to go down there and
have fun and execute our game
plan. *
“They’re not unbeatable.”
Markowski, one of only seven
Huskers to play in NU’s 77-67 loss
to No. 11 Iowa State Wednesday
night in Lincoln, pointed to the
absence of KU cento Scot Pollard
as the Jayhawks’ Achilles’ heel.
The 6-foot-11 senior suffered a
stress fracture in his left foot on
Jan. 22 during Kansas’ 29-point
win over Texas A&M. Doctors
expect Pollard to sit out until -
March.
But senior B J. Williams has
filled in nicely, helping the
Jayhawks win at No. 18 Colorado
last Saturday and at No. 22 Texas
Tech on Wednesday, improving
their league record to 7-0.
Pollard’s absence marks the
second time this season KU has
lost a senior starter to an injury.
All-American point guard Jacque
Vaughn missed the first 10 games
of the season with a broken wrist
Kansas Coach Roy Williams said
his squad works well to overcome
the adversity.
“It’s not a challenge I would
like to have very often,” Williams
said at his weekly {Mess conference
on Monday. “When you think
about about it it gives you a little
extra challenge as a coach. But the
kids have to be able to step up and
do it. It hasn’t been boring, let’s
Please see KU on 11
B
the stage to ruin Nebraska’s good game
by scoring seven straight points to cut
NU’s lead to eight with just 3:18 re
maining in the game.
Husker forward Tina McClain
scored on NU’s next two possessions
while freshman Brooke Schwartz
added two free throws to give the
Huskers a 14-point advantage.
Beck said McClain, who led the
Huskers with seven rebounds, has
struggled at times this season but
played well against the Cyclones.
McClain also scored a season-high 15
points.
Please see ISU on 11
NU gymnasts
eager to meet
OU at home
Saturday’s dual
against the Sooners
excites Kendig, Allen.
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
.
There’s no place like home.
The Nebraska women’s and men’s
gymnastics teams hope that > saying
proves true Satur
day night when
they play host to
liicii in si meei ui
the season.
The seventh
ranked women’s
team and the No. 4
men’s team face
the Oklahoma
men and women at
7 p.m. at.the Bob
Devaney Sports
Center.
Nebraska women’s Coach Dan
Kendig said being at home is a wel
come change since the Comhuskers’
began the season with four meets on
the road.
‘It will be great to be at home,”
Kendig said. “I’m happy that we just
don’t have to travel this weekend.”
Despite being on the road, the
women’s team has tumbled, swung
and vaulted to its best start ever. Mon
day night’s 195.45-point effort at
Southeast Missouri State was the
Huskers’ second-highest team seme in
school history.
Added depth and strong leadership
from seniors Kim DeHaan and Shelly
Bartlett has been the key to the early
success, Kendig said.
Bartlett has won the all-around the
past three meets, including a 39.36
effort at Southeast Missouri State.
“Shelly’s done a bang-up job for
us on all four events,” Kendig said.
Kendig said the Sooners, third in the
Big Eight last season and 2-1 this sea
son, will be a good match for Nebraska.
“I think they’re an improved team,”
Kendig said. “But we are, too.”
The Nebraska men’s team has
beaten the No. 3 Sooners once this
season. NU outscored QU 226.65 to
222.4 at the Rocky Mountain Open in
Colorado Springs on Jan. 17.
Coach Francis Allen said he ex
pects a stronger showing from Okla
homa Saturday. ‘ ; _
Please see SOONERS on 11