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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1997)
Injury can’t slow Eddleman The Big 12 offensive player of the week was Texas junior running back Ricky' Williams. Williams ear ned the ball 26 times for 211 yards and had three touchdow ns in a 45 31 win over Kansas. For the season, Williams has 1,710 yards on 246 cames. The Big 12 defensive player of the w'eek was Texas Tech defensive end Montae Reagor. Reagor had 11 tackles, including a key fourth down stop, in a 27-3 victory over Oklahoma State. The Big 12 special teams player of the week was Kansas State junior place-kicker Martin Gramatica. Gramatica made three field goals, including a 53-yarder, in a 37-20 w in over Colorado. Gramatica has now kicked 19 of 20 field goals this season. It’s official: Nebraska will play Texas A&M in the second Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game in San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 6. NU wrapped up the bid with its 77 14 victory over Iowa State. The Aggies got the bid with a 51-7 win over Oklahoma and an Oklahoma State loss to Texas Tech. Tech actu ally leads the Big 12 South Div ision but has declared itself ineligible to play in the championship game. £ Nebraska senior offensive guard Aaron Tay lor ha.-> been named to the Football News All-American First Team. Other players selected from the Big 12 were Texas running back Ricky Williams. Kansas State kick er Martin Gramatica and Kansas junior linebacker Ron Warner m unless Colorado can find a way to unset Nebraska, the Big 12 will only have five bowl-eligible learns, fading to fill its six bowi slots for the second consecutive year. Missouri Coach Larry Smith, whose 7-4 Tiger team did qualify for a bowl, doesn't see the Big 12 biting off more than it can chew with six bowl slots. "It's better to have too many slots than too little." Smith said. "When you don't have enough slots good teams are left out." Baylor continues to stand as the only team that was common oppo nent between No. 3 Nebraska and No. 1 Michigan, and Coach Dave Roberts still has the same opinion about who’s better. "If Nebraska and Michigan were to play each other Nebraska would win," Roberts said. "Only because they have a little more speed on defense." ■ With its victory over Colorado. Kansas State now joins Nebraska as the only Big 12 teams to win nine games every season since 1993. In their last nine seasons, the Wildcats hav e won 64 games, two more than they had in the previous 20 seasons before Coach Bill Snyder arrived. Big 12 Notebook was com piled by staff reporter Sam McKewon. Matt Miller/DN NU'S LINDSAY EDDLEMAN may not have been fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered seven days before the Michigan game Sunday, but she was good enough to score two goais in the Buskers’ first-round win. By Darren Ivy Staff Reporter One week ago, NU second team All-American striker Lindsay Eddleman was lying in front of the Texas A & M goal clutching her ankle in pain. Rumors circulated that she may be done for the season. But after sitting out of practice all week, she came back on Sunday and scored two goals and an assist in NU's 5-1 NCAA Tournament victory over Michigan. wc iuigin uu i ii ci i wiui an our players this week,” joked NU Coach John Walker about his practice schedule. Eddleman was tackled by A&M goalie Melanie Wilson while attempting a shot. The injury forced Eddleman, NU’s third leading scorer, to the sidelines where she watched her teammates struggle to a 3-1 loss. Walker said A&M was play ing well and that he wasn't sure the injury was the difference. But he said NU missed Eddleman's offensive presence in the second half. "She has traditionally done well in big games,” Walker said. "She finds ways to score.” Senior defender Tanya Franck said Eddleman's non-stop defen sive pressure sets a standard for her teammates^ . _ _ “Our whole defensive pres sure dropped off after (hefr injure ),' Franck said. “It was like we got kicked in the stom Please see EDDLEMAN on 8 By Sam McKewon Staff reporter After NL's 74-66 upset win over No. 11 Alabama, Nebraska Women's Basketball Coach Paul Sanderford looked around the post-game press room and shook his head in disbelief at the NU players that had been requested for post-game comments. "I can’t believe you don't have (senior center) Emily Thompson in here,” Sanderford said. “She was the star of this game. That’s the best game she's played in a long time.” Thompson didn't have the most points or rebounds for NU Sunday night, but played a key role in stopping the Crimson Tide's inside rebounding machine, which turned out to be a major difference in the game. Nebraska out-rebounded Alabama 44-33 in the game, including 24-!(4 m the second half. Thompson had five or those rebounds to go along w ith nine points. Thompson said it was her best per formance since her freshman season. "It was definitely one of the best games I've played" Thompson said. "I had fun out there for the first time in a long time.” Thompson was saddled with con taining Alabama junior center Tausha Mills and for the most part succeeded. Mills did score 15 points but those came in spurts and had eight rebounds. Before the game, Thompson didn’t know that she would be up against the 6 foot-2 frame of Mills. “The coaches told me right before the game that I would be guarding her,” Thompson said. “They told me not to even worry about getting rebounds, but just stop Mills from getting them.” EarK m the first quarter. Sanderford didn't think Thompson was filling he roic-. ”1 took her out after a couple min utes and told her ‘Emily, you've got to get something done in there.'" he said. “Then 1 got this big smile from her. and she went out and played great." Thompson was asked not only to play inside but also to extend her shoot ing range to the three-point line. Thompson heaved three treys against the Tide, but didn’t make any. The three serves a purpose beyond the points, Thompson said. “It brings another potential rebounder out of the paint to cover me,” Thompson said. “Even if 1 don’t make that shot, which I didn't, I’m taking a rebounder out of a lane.” NU now takes on Western Kentucky in Storrs, Conn., m the semifinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, and Thompson sees her rqie staying much the same "1 think I'll be asked to do the same kinds of things for much of the year.” she said. Note: With the Huskers upset of Alabama on Sunday, Nebraska earned its first ranking of the Paul Sanderford era at No. 21 in The Associated Press poll. In the AP preseason poll the Huskers were the top team not in the top 25 poll. Western Kentucky, Sanderford's former team and Nebraska's opponent Thursday mght in the semifinals of the WNIT, was ranked No. 16. Connecticut, which hosts the Final Four of the WNIT is ranked No. 6. w A a -mm « Cross country team receives JN CAA bid By Sam McKewon Staff Reporter The Nebraska men's cross country team receiv ed one of the four wild-card bids to the NCAA Championships in Greenv ille. S.C . Tuesday, marking the second straight season NU will compete in tiie meet The NU women are already auto matic qualifiers for the meet after finish ing second at the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Saturday . "We're obviously very excited," NU Coach Jay Dirksen said. “We certainly didn't know if we would make it or not.” Nebraska was the third team to be selected for a bid, behind Michigan State and Notre Dame. NU qualified by defeating two automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships: Florida and Texas-San Antonio. The Irish and Spartans both defeated three teams, while the fourth team select ed Iowa State, beat three teams, but was beaten by the Huskers at the district meet. Dirksen said the decision came down to the tough competition NU faced all season long. “We could have went to some easier meets, but we wouldn't have qualified for the NCAAs,” he said. "It was good that we went to all these tough meets." Nebraska's qualification for the NCAAs brings to a close a tumultuous season w hich saw NU lose two of its top three runners at the beginning of the year and then climb from the bottom of the conference back among the top 25. The season also saw the emergence of freshman Jeroen Broekzme7 and the return of senior Cleophas Boor, who both qualified for the NCAAs individually. Dirksen said he has been happy with the recovery of the team. “I think we’ve fought back, and we’ve run very well in every race but one,’’ he said. "We had two great individ ual runners, but we come together as a whole team." Now that the team is in the nationals. Dirksen said he does not intend to watch his runners he down in front of the com petition. "If the} k satisfied to just go, 1 told them they nugnt as eil just go to Disnev World" he said. "I war* diem to compete hard."
