Lue sizzles as Huskers shock ISU
Nee’s 200th win as
Nebraska’s coach is one of
his sweetest in 11 seasons.
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
AMES, Iowa — Surprise, surprise.
Hanging to its postseason aspirations by a
thread as small as Tyronn Lue’s first step is
quick, the Nebraska basketball team stunned
No. 7 Iowa State Saturday with a 74-69 over
time victory.
With 18 seconds to play in the overtime pe
riod and Nebraska on top 72-69, Dedric
Willoughby — of all things for a senior All
America candidate to do — dribbled the ball
off his foot near midcourt. Nebraska regained
possession, and Shawn Bankhead fouled Lue,
who sank a pair of free
throws to ice the
Comhusker victory.
“It knocks the monkey
right off your back,” said
NU center Mikki Moore,
who contributed 13 points
and 10 rebounds in 36 min
utes. “But if the monkey
feels like he wants to climb
back up there, he’ll climb
back up there. We just Qamer
played straight basketball
with our heart and soul and didn’t give up.”
With the victory, before a sellout crowd of
14,322 at Hilton Coliseum, NU moved to 15
12 overall and 6-8 in the Big 12 Conference,
winning on the road in league play for the first
time in 13 games. Nebraska beat a ranked op
ponent away from home for the first time in
exactly two years, and won on the floor a of
top-10 foe for the first time since Feb. 6, 1982.
Wins Wednesday over Oklahoma State at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center and Sunday over
top-ranked Kansas can put the Huskers in posi
tion to gain their first NCAA Tournament bid
in three years.
“I’m proud of our kids,” an elated NU Coach
Danny Nee said after his 200th win at Nebraska.
“The players never quit. Even when we got
down, the players kept fighting and competing.
And then finally — it’s been so long — we got
a break. It’s a big, big win for us.”
Lue tied his career-high with 30 points on
12-of-18 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds
in 44 minutes, presenting a strong argument for
first-team All-Big 12 consideration. The siz
zling sophomore point guard hit four 3-point
ers Saturday, including two in the final 3:35 of
regulation, when he scored 12 points during a
17-9 Nebraska run.
“I don’t know what happened to Tyronn
Lue,” Nebraska guard Cookie Belcher said, “but
something hit him and he just started shooting.
I couldn’t believe it. I was locked up most of
the game, and I just got out of the way and let
Please see UPSET on 8
Iowa State
blows by NU
onputback
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Iowa State left the Nebraska
women’s basketball team high and dry
Sunday night at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
The
Cornhuskers,
who connected on
a season-best nine
3-pointers, were
still two points
short as the Cy
clones scored on
an offensive re
bound with three
DeForge seconds remain
ing to claim a 57
55 victory.
The game was a combination of 3
point bombardments and long scoring
droughts for both teams.
It was just a 3-point barrage, NU
Coach Angela Beck said. “There were
thunderstorms at times and then it
rained and then it just got dry.”
The storm started at the beginning
of the second half as the Cyclones (15
9 overall 8-6 in the Big 12 Confer
ence), who trailed 30-26 at half, hit
their first five shots — four 3-point
ers and one three-point play to take a
41-32 lead.
However, the Huskers (18-6 and 8
6) responded by putting together a
little shower of their own going on a
13-3 run to take a 48-44 lead when
Anna DeForge hit a 3-pointer with
9:09 left in the game.
The two teams went toe-to-toe the
next four minutes as Nebraska forged
ahead 53-51 when Nicole Kubik nailed
a jumper with five minutes remaining.
Then the drought hit for the Husk
ers as they connected on just one of
11 shots the remainder of the game.
During the run NU also missed two
front ends of one-and-one free-throw
opportunities.
Nebraska, however, still had a
chance to win the game. With ISU
ahead 55-53, the Cyclones’ Jayme
Olson missed a free throw.
Kubik secured the rebound and
was fouled. Kubik missed her free
throw attempt; however, Iowa State
was unable to secure possession and
the Huskers had the ball.
Please see ISU on 8 _
Matt Miller/DN
TEXAS TECH’s Brandon May competes in the hurdles at this weekend’s Big 12 Indoor Track and Field
Championships. Nebraska won both the men’s and the women’s titles.
Huskers sweep track crowns
By Vince D’Adamo
Staff Reporter
Different conference, same re
sult.
For many years, the Nebraska
men’s and women’s track and field
teams had a stranglehold on the
Big Eight Conference.
On Saturday at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center track, both NU teams
tightened their grip on a new era by
winning the first-ever Big 12 men’s
and women’s indoor championships
in commanding fashion.
Comhusker Coach Gary Pepin
said a balanced attack helped pave
the way for his team.
“If you’re going to win the
meet,” Pepin said, “there’s cer
tainly going to be an emphasis on
quality at the top. Balance is great
if you have enough quality points.
Plus, Texas had some
miscabobbles.”
On the women’s side, the
Huskers scored 160 points on the
way to beating Texas. The Long
horns totaled 132.33 points: With
the win, the NU women extended
their indoor title streak to 18
straight.
The NU men — who won their
fifth straight overall league title —
scored 132 points, outdistancing
second place Iowa State’s 102.
The Husker women used a fast
start on Friday to shove the highly
regarded Longhorns off the dance
floor.
“We needed a fast start because
we knew they were going to finish
strong,” pentathlete Janet
Blomstedt said. “Everybody was
really pumped.”
Despite nursing a sore back,
Blomstedt won the pentathlon at
the conference meet for the second
straight year. Blomstedt, a junior
from Hershey, scored 3,982 points
getting NU off to a healthy start
on Friday.
Long jumper Angee Henry
leaped her way to a win with a
jump of 21 feet, 4 inches. Henry
— who scored 20 points for the
Huskers — also finished second in
the 55 meters with a career-best
time of 6.85 seconds. Shot putter
Tressa Thompson — who holds
the NCAA indoor record in her
event — showcased her talent in
the shot put ring.
Thompson scratched on her
first two throws but rebounded
with a toss of 59-5 3/4. Thompson,
a senior from Bloomfield, said she
has now focused her sights on the
NCAA Indoor Championships,
March 7-8 in Indianapolis.
“I’m ready for nationals,” Th
ompson said. “I’m starting to peak
now. In a few weeks from now I
want to pop the big one. It’s my
last indoor meet so I might as well
pop the big one.”
In the women’s high jump the
Huskers did not have a first-place
finish but still totaled a key 25.5
points.
Kerry Doetker finished second
with a leap of 6-Vi. Carrie Braness
and Jessica Thompson each scaled
5-9*4 to finish third and fourth. Jody
Doetker and Blomstedt each leaped
5-7*4 to finish fifth and sixth.
In the 1,000-meter run Sherri
Macfee scored the NU women’s
lone first-place finish in a running
event with a time of 2:49.99.
On the men’s side, Byron
Topps made a good first impres
sion competing in his first meet of
Please see TITLE on 8
Nebraska
smashes
record
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Sunday was an afternoon to re
member for the Nebraska women’s
gymnastics team.
The Cornhuskers shattered the
school record with a team score of
196.625 en route to their third straight
Master’s Classic title in front of a
crowd of 2,064 fans at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
Sixth-ranked Nebraska ran away
from No. 5 Arizona State (195.6), Cali
fornia (191.5) and Eastern Michigan
(188.675).
NU gymnasts placed first in the
vault, floor exercise and on the bal
ance beam.
Senior Shelly Bartlett said the team
score was a landmark accomplishment
for the Huskers. The previous record
of 195.75 was set at the 1996 NCAA
Midwest Regional in Salt Lake City.
“I think we hit a big goal today,
which is awesome,” Bartlett said.
“We’re real proud of that but we still
know that even with this score there is
more to come.”
Bartlett broke Husker freshman
Heather Brink’s school record of 39.4
in the all-around with a 39.425.
Brink, a freshman from Lincoln,
won the beam with a career-best 9.9
and tied ASU’s Carrie Courtney for
second in the all-around at 39.25.
Brink’s score paced the Huskers to a
school-record score of 49.15 on the
Please see RECORD on 8
Scott Bruhn/DN
SHELLY BARTLETT competes on the
uneven bars Sunday.