I
Mike Mock
’ftung players
a key to suooess
throughout year
There is no such term as true
freshman or first-year player when
it comes to the March Madness of
college basketball.
By this time of the year those
terms to describe young players are
long gone and the athletes who were
stumbling and bumbling for an iden
tity at the beginning of the year have
now grown by leaps and bounds.
At this point in the season, the
players might be called developmen
tal, prospects, hope for the future or
even young, but they all must prove
their worth on the court.
“I don’t consider myself a fresh
man,” freshman Brooke Schwartz
said. “At this point in the year, I think,
you’re a player. There’s no such thing
as seniors or freshmen.”
This weekend starts a month-long
fantasy called March Madness,
which every basketball-crazed fan
has been looking forward to since
November.
This year, surprisingly enough,
both the Nebraska men’s and
women’s basketball teams are on the
verge of making this particular
March memorable for Husker fans.
How long Nebraska’s dance card
is full in March will largely be deter
mined by the play of freshmen—'or
as they are called now, players —
who stepped onto the Bob Devaney
Sports Center floor for the first time
four months ago.
Nebraska Coach Angela Beck
has played all four of her freshman
this year. Schwartz, Charlie Rogers,
Nicole Kubik and Cisco Gilmore
have played together at the same time
growing up and together this season.
The freshmen of the Huskers
have been contributing more than 30
percent of the scoring and all but
Gilmore has seen a spot in the start
ing lineup.
Men’s coach Danny Nee faced a
similar situation this season starting
true freshmen Cookie Belcher in ev
ery game.
Nee has also used sophomore
first-year players Larry Florence, —
who has started all but one game —
Alvin Mitchell and Troy Piatkowski
considerably throughout the season.
And just like the women’s team,
these young players have produced
this season. In December, two free
throws by Schwartz iced a win over
then-No. 9 Iowa. On Wednesday
night, Piatkowski looked like the
Polish Rifle scoring career-high 11
points to help the Huskers beat Okla
homa State.
This weekend both teams need
wins to help make it into the NCAA
Tournament and both teams need
these players to make strong contri
butions.
It’s time they show they have
passed Basketball 101 this season.
Kluck is a journalism graduate
student and a Daily Nebraskan se
nior reporter.
Beck happy to end February
After a 2-6 month,
Huskers hope March
brings a win.
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska women’s basket
ball team walked off the court of
Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa,
with its heads held high after hand
ing Iowa State its worst home loss
of the season.
The 76-52 win over the Cy
clones on Jan. 30 was the
Comhuskers’ 16th of year, ninth
straight and left them one game out
of first place in the Big 12 Confer
ence — still in the hunt for the
league title and
a berth in the
NCAA Tourna
ment.
But Ne
braska Coach
Angela Beck
knew what
February had in
store for her
young Huskers
— four games
against teams ranked in the top 25
and four games on the road.
Beck’s fears came true as the
Huskers went 2-6 during February
to fall to 18-7 overall and 8-7 in the
league. The fall has dropped the
Huskers to seventh in the confer
ence race and in a precariously
close position to not receiving an
NCAA bid.j
But that was February and now
the calendar turns a new page.
Saturday’s regular-season-end
ing game against Oklahoma State
(14-11 and 6-9) at Stillwater, Okla.,
at 2 p.m. begins a month that Beck
believes the Huskers need at least
one more win to earn an at-large bid
to the NCAA Tournament.
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Women s Basketball
Starters
Saturday, 2 p.m.
GallagheMba Arena
Stillwater, Okla.
Nebraska w
Pos Name Ht Yr.
F 22 TiMffeCMn s^10 St
F 30 Anna DeForge 5-11 Jr.
0 33Chafe Rogers 6-2 Fr.
G24JamiKubik 5-11 Jr.
G 20 LaToyaDoage 5-6 Sr.
OUahMnaSL i4-n(&9)
Pos Name Ht Yr.
F 24 BeneeBoberts 5-to Jr.
F 32 Cheri Edwards 6-2 Jr.
G 10 Kourtney Bower 5-7 So.
NU enters dual
without two stars
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Just when the Nebraska
women’s gymnastics team thought
things couldn’t get any better,
things got worse.
After breaking the 196-point
barrier last Sunday for the first time
in school history at the Master’s
Classic, the sixth-ranked
Comhuskers (11-1) hit a wall on
Thursday when it was determined
that freshman Laura Ohlendorf has
a broken her right foot.
Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig
said the loss of Ohlendorf makes
Saturday’s 2 p.m. meet with Iowa
State at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center much more difficult to win.
It hurts us a lot, Kendig said.
“We lose a bar and a beam girl with
Laura. And she’s not just a bar and
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Nee expects
‘electric zoo’
A win Sunday assurer;
Nebraska of a No. 7
seed in Kansas City.
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
The big one is here.
Nebraska lays its basketball season
on the line Sunday afternoon at the
sold-out Bob
Devaney Sf>orts
. Center, playing
host to top-ranked
Kansas at 2:47
p.m.
A win earns
the Cornhuskers
the No. 7 seed in
the Big 12 Confer
ence Tournament
next week in Kan
sas City and the inside track to a spot
intheN^fcA Tournament Aloss Sun
day iencffilfU to Kansas City likely in
need of four wins in four days to crack
the NCAA selection committee’s top
64.
“There’s so many things that could
happen,” Nebraska Coach Danny Nee
said. “But a win over the No. 1 team
would pretty well put us up there.”
NU enters Sunday’s game — per
haps the most important contest at the
Devaney Center in three years—play
ing its best basketball of the season.
Winners of four of their last five
games, the Huskers (16-12 overall and
7-8 in the Big 12) dominated Okla
homa State in the second half Wednes
day, committing a season-low nine
turnovers in a 77-68 win.
Turnovers plagued Nebraska in an
82-77 overtime loss at Kansas on Feb.
1. The Huskers lost the ball a season
high 28 times, and point guard Tyronn
Lue, despite scoring 26 points, ac
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Homestand comes
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
For the first time in a month, the
Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will
compete within the comforts of home
at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Saturday at 2 p.m. against third
ranked Iowa, the Comhuskers begin a
four-week homestand. The meet will
also feature the Nebraska-women’s
gymnastics team, which will face Iowa
State.
Nebraska Coach Francis Allen said
NU needs to defend its home turf in
the next four meets. After this week
end, Nebraska will face No. 13 Min
nesota on March 9 and fourth-ranked
Penn State on March 16 before play
ing host to the Mountain Pacific
Championship on March 28-29.
it we can get those teams here at
home that’s going to make diem think
they can’t beat us,” Allen said. “That’s
not the way to go
into a National
Championship,
with everybody
and their brothers
scored a season
high 230.55
weekend at
nois. Nebraska’s
top score, a
229.35, came on Feb
Allen said the ]
to score higher than
effort to defeat Iowa
—
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