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Wednesday’s results from the
Women’s Big 12 Conference
Basketball Tournament in
Kansas City-, Mo.:
Texas Tech 80, Colorado 49
Top-seeded Texas Tech ended
Colorado’s 10-game conference
tournament winning streak
Wednesday and advanced to the
semifinal to face Oklahoma State
today.
For the No. 5 Lady Raiders (23
4), the g3me also provided a
chance to erase the memory of last
year's early exit from the tourna
ment.
“The most important thing for
us today was to get a win,” Texas
Tech Coach Marsha Sharp said.
“This was a game that we have
thought about for over a year now -
since we had to exit so early last
year.”
Sharp was pleased with Tech’s
execution in the first half, particu
larly during an 18-0 run that turned
a five-point Buffalo lead to a 26-13
Raider advantage. Tech never
trailed again.
Iowa State 88, Texas A&M 68
The Cyclones (24-6) jumped to
a 47-34 halftime lead and never
looked back as they defeated Texas
A&M (9-19) Wednesday to
advance to the semifinals today.
ISU will face Kansas at 7:30 p.m.
Iowa State was led by Jayme
Olson and Stacy Frese, who both
scored 21 points, as the Cyclones
made 54 percent of their shots
from the field.
The Aggies, on the other hand,
shot just 39 percent from the field
and committed 16 turnovers.
Kansas 50, Kansas State 46
The Jayhawks held off KSU
(11-17) in a seesaw battle at
Municipal Coliseum Wednesday
night.
Kansas improved to 20-7 and
will face Iowa State tonight at 7:30.
Note:
The Texas Tech men’s team was
in attendance during the first half
of the Lady Raiders game.
“I have a lot of respect and like
Marsha Sharp a lot,” Tech Coach
James Dickey said. “We are all a
part of Texas Tech.
“Marsha was very supportive
of me when I was interviewing for
the Tech job. I’m just so proud of
what she’s done.”
The Men’s Big 12 Conference
Basketball Tournament begins
today at Kemper Arena in
- Kansas City, Mo.
Today’s games:
Colorado vs. Kansas State (noon)
Texas A&M vs. Baylor (2:20 p.m.)
Texas vs. Texas Tech (6 p.m.)
Iowa State vs. Missouri (8:20 p.m.)
Note:
Oklahoma State Coach Eddie
Sutton was named the Big 12
Coach of the Year by the confer
ence coaches. In his 28th season
overall, Sutton is the only mentor
to have taken four different schools
to the NCAA Tournament.
The Coaches’All-Big 12 Team
consists of Oklahoma guard Corey
Brewer, Texas Tech guard Cory
Carr, Kansas forward Raef
LaFrentz, Nebraska guard Tyronn
Lue and Kansas forward Paul
Pierce.
Colorado guard Kenny Price
was named the Newcomer of the
Year and Iowa State guard Marcus
Fizer earned Freshman of the year
honors.
Big 12 Conference Basketball
Tournament Notebook compiled
by Special Projects Reporter
Mike Kluck.
Tobin confident for Big 12 meet
By Sarah Dose
Staff Reporter
In his quest for a first-ever Big 12
championship, Ryan Tobin said he
doesn’t feel the pressure.
This Saturday, the No. 10
Nebraska wrestling team will compete
in the best Big 12 Championships
they’ve seen in a long time, NU Coach
Tim Neumann said.
The Comhuskers aren’t favored to
win Saturday’s tournament in
Norman, Okla., but at least four indi
viduals should be in their respective
championship matches, Neumann
said.
One of those prospects is NU
senior Ryan Tobin, who is the top seed
at 190 pounds.
Neumann said Tobin - currently
ranked fourth in the nation - was
almost a lock for a championship.
“Tobin is probably the most sure
bet,” Neumann said. “With the guys
that Ryan has wrestled, nobody in our
conference has been close to him.”
Because he’s beaten all the
wrestlers in his weight class during the
regular season, Tobin said he was con
fident in his abilities.
“I don’t have any plans to lose any
matches from here on out,” Tobin said.
“This is my first No. 1 seed in the tour
nament, so I guess they expect me to
win.”
Tobin should win, since most of
his all-around competition isn’t even
in the Big 12. Because of that, he said,
he’s not looking only at this weekend’s
competition but also at the NCAA
Championships.
“I look at it like I have seven
matches left in my career,” Tobin said.
“Two in the Big 12, and I plan on five
in the NCAAs.
“Whoever steps out in front of me
is just my next match.”
Tobin said he doesn’t want to over
look anybody but said he couldn’t help
thinking about the NCAAs March 19
21 in Cleveland.
If everything stays the same, Tobin
will go into the NCAAs ranked fourth
in the nation.
“I would rather go into it ranked
fourth than ranked first,” Tobin said.
“I’m not the guy getting upset any
more. So I don’t have any pressures
going into it.”
But Tobin isn’t the only Husker
expected to do well in Norman.
The other two top seeds in the tour
nament include No. 1 Temoer Terry
(158) and No. 10 Brad Canoyer (134).
Terry is expected to meet up with
No. 2 Hardell Moore of Oklahoma
State in the finals. Terry has beaten
Moore all four times they’ve met,
including a tiebreaker match at the
NU-OSU dual two weeks ago in
Lincoln.
Canoyer is also expected to battle a
ranked OSU wrestler for the second
time m two weeks.
Canoyer got the top seed with an
overtime win over No. 6 Jamill Kelly,
and Neumann said he is confident in
Canoyer’s position.
“He’s die best in the conference at
that weight class,” Neumann said.
Another possible Big 12 champion
is redshirt freshman Brad Vering
(177).
Vering had to settle for the second
seed at the conference tournament
after losing 4-3 to OSU’s No. 14 Mark
Munoz.
“I expect him to be 100 percent
ready,” Neumann said. “But he’ll have
to wrestle like he’s capable of
wrestling.”
Matt Miller/DN
NU SENIOR Ryan Tobin is one of three Husker No. 1 seeds that will compete in the Big 12 Conference Tournament
in Norman, Okla., Saturday.
Huskers become
target after wins
- — -
By Lisa Vonnahme
Staff Reporter
.An opportunity to beat top-ranked teams had been
knocking on the door of the Nebraska softball team for
a long time, NU Coach Rhonda Revelle said.
The Comhuskers finally were able to answer that
door last weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in
Columbus, Ga.
After defeating three top-15 teams - No. 3
Michigan, No. 9 California and No. 11 South Carolina
- the Huskers now will be the target when they travel to
Fayetteville, Ark., for the Razorback Invitational
Saturday and Sunday.
“We’re going to have respectable teams gunning
for us as opposed to us gunning for other opponents,”
Revelle said. “We have to make sure we stay right on
that same edge that we played all last weekend because
we know what it feels like to be on the other side.”
The teams looking to upset Nebraska (9-4) this
weekend include Arkansas, DePaul, Northern Illinois,
Creighton and Southwest Missouri State. NU jumped
into the USA Today Coach s Poll Wednesday at No. 15.
“I expected them to be ranked higher,” Creighton
Coach Brent Vigness said. “Our girls always look for
ward to playing Nebraska because there’s such an in
state rivalry there.”
The Huskers have been led this season primarily by
shortstop Ali Viola and starting pitcher Jenny Voss.
Viola, a senior, has slugged seven home runs in 13
games this season upping her career total to 38. She
now ranks ninth among career homer leaders in NCAA
history. After knocking four homers last weekend,
Viola was named Big 12 Player of the Week.
“Ali’s off to a tremendous start,” Coach Revelle
said. “She’s not only hitting for average, she’s hitting in
very tight situations. She’s getting us ahead early in the
game.”
Voss, an All-Big 12 pitcher last season, has struck
out 51 batters and thrown four shutouts this season.
“Last weekend was very much a team effort,”
Revelle said. “Ali’s bat really spruced up the offense,
and Jenny did her job with the hitters on the other side.”
This week, Revelle said, the Huskers are working
on their mental game in an effort to prevent an upset.
“We’ve got a lot of time to think,” Coach Revelle
said. “We have to stay mentally prepared. We’re going
to war, and we’re not giving an inch.”
oanderlord not pleased
with ‘embarrassing’ loss
UPSET from page 7
“We lost to them by 30 points in Lincoln, and I
think they came in with a false sense of security of
what we were capable of doing,” OSU Coach Dick
Halterman said.
But Sanderford blamed NU’s lack of defensive
intensity for its slow start, calling Halterman’s
assessment “baloney.”
“We were defensively nonexistent in the first
10 minutes of the game,” Sanderford said.
Nebraska rallied, outscoring OSU 19-8 for the
remainder of the first half on the strength of a 7-0
run sparked by Cisco Gilmore. The sophomore
forward was the first Husker to score other than
DeForge, taking a foul underneath, making the
field goal, and hitting the following free throw at
the 5:26 mark.
The Huskers trailed 35-26 at the half as their
late run could not overcome a 30 percent shooting
performance in the first half.
“I was so mad at halftime, I couldn’t even
think,” Sanderford said. “I think we had some peo
ple who laid down on us today. No one stepped up.”
The second half frustrated Nebraska even
more. The Huskers cut OSU’s lead to six and
seven, but the Cowgirls responded with 3-point
baskets both times.
Oklahoma State finished the game 10 of 16
from 3-point range (63 percent) and shot 50 per
cent from the field. Four Cowgirls finished in dou
ble figures with Jennifer Crow leading the way.
Crow, a sophomore guard, posted 25 points and
hit 4 of 7 3-point attempts.
“We did a good job taking care of the ball,”
Crow said. “We didn’t let them have their transition
baskets and we played with the intensity we’ve
been lacking.”
DeForge led the Huskers with 29 points, and
Nicole Kubik added 17. But they combined to con
vert 12 of 41 field goal attempts. No other Huskers
scored in double figures.
Sanderford was especially disappointed with
NU’s post players, who combined for just 15
points.
“We came in like a sunny-day team,”
Sanderford said. “We didn’t play with class and
character. When we missed shots, we looked at the
officials or tried to point the finger at someone
else. I promise you things won’t be like that in the
future at Nebraska.”
Johnson improves skill with father’s help
JOHNSON from page 7
to back-to-back state championships like my
father,” Chad said. “We won two of them but not
back-to-back.”
It was then that Clemon helped direct Chad
toward Nebraska, a college Chad said he hadn’t
considered coming out of high school.
“Chad was born with North Carolina blue
blood in him,” Clemon said. “He wanted to play in
the ACC, so he could play in front of his friends.”
But when no ACC schools came courting
and in-state Florida schools didn’t recruit Chad,
in stepped NU assistant coach Jimmy Williams,
who told Clemon he saw Chad as a player who
could make an impact in the Big 12 Conference.
Johnson came to Lincoln. And in first sea
son, the impact has been noticeable.
He’s averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds
per game and has started the last six games of
the season - all NU victories.
Chad said the difference in his play came
when he was put into the starting lineup.
“I felt like I’ve played good enough that I
could be in the starting lineup,” Chad said.
“Coaches are telling you all the time that start
ing is not liberty and you have to help your team
out, and starting is where I can do that best.”
Clemon said he’s happy to see Chad starting
and calls after every game he sees tc give his
son advice on how to make his game better.
“Chad’s got to stay aggressive,” Clemon
said. “He’s doing what (NU Coach) Danny
(Nee) tells him to do, which is good, but every
once in a while, you got to make a play on your
own. I know Chad can do that.”
