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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1998)
Women find way to NCAA Tourney ■ Despite a setback in the Big 12 Tournament, NU is selected as a No. 9 seed. By Shannon Heffelfinger Senior Reporter After three long days of waiting and wondering, the Nebraska women’s basketball team watched the NCAA Tournament selection show for only three seconds before learning its fate for the final week of the sea son. Fate arrived quickly for the Cornhuskers, who were the third of 64 teams announced. NU, which earned a No. 8 seed in the East Region, will travel to Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., to battle ninth-seeded New Mexico (26-6 ). “I was excited that they didn’t make us wait,” NU Coach Paul Sanderford said. “It came up so quickly. “I think this shows we got a lot out of the kids this season and I am tremendously pleased with that. I was disappointed with our last game, but I am happy the selection committee looked at our season and recognized that we deserve this.” Nebraska lost its final game of the season 69-83 to Oklahoma State Wednesday in the conference tourna ment. “It hurt us very much,” Sanderford said of NU’s early exit from the Big 12 Tournament. “Looking at what the other con ference teams who did do weli in the tournament and where they are, I think wre could have been a four or five seed.” Three other Big 12 teams earned NCAA bids. Texas Tech, the fifth ranked team in the country, secured a No. 1 seed (Midwest Region) for the first time in history. Iowa State - which NU defeated 68-60 two weeks ago - finished with a No. 4 seed in the Mideast Region and Kansas got a No. 5. Oklahoma State, which advanced to the finals of the Big 12 Tournament, did not receive a bid. “I was surprised,” Sanderford said. “I thought they played their way into the NCAA Tournament this week.” The Buskers will play the UNM Friday. The Lobos won the Western Athletic Conference tournament Sunday, defeating Rice 69-48 to auto matically qualify for their first ever NCAA Tournament bid. Senior Abby Garchek - New Mexico’s all-time leading scorer - leads UNM with 20 points per game and helped the Lobos win 14 of their final 16 games of the season. Sanderford said the Huskers will be ready for New Mexico’s challenge. NU put together one of its best seasons in school history this year. The Huskers defeated three ranked reams (Alabama, Western Kentucky and Iowa State), and earned a No. 11 ranking - its highest ever. NU was ranked all year in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Nebraska also tied school records for wins (22) and conference wins (11). “The fact that we did have such a disappointing performance will moti vate the kids,” said Sanderford, who led his former school, Western Kentucky, to 12 NCAA Tournaments and four Final Four appearances in 15 years with the Fady Toppers. a I think this shows we got a lot out of the kids this season and I am tremendously pleased with that Paul Sanderford NU coach Nationals in future for seven wrestlers By Lisa Vonnahme Stuff Reporter NORMAN, Okla. - Brad Vering sat on the mat, raised his index fin ger and motioned a No. 1 to the crowd. Ryan Tobins arm was raised by the referee, his hand forming a fist. Both Vering, a freshman, and Tobin, a senior, were named Big 12 Conference wrestling champions Saturday for the first time. Vering (32-7) and Tobin (27-3) led the No. 9 Nebraska wrestling team to a third-place timsh at the Big 12 Conference Championships - a day that became focused on individ uals, NU Coach fim Neumann said. The Cornhuskers, who finished the dual season 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the league, scored 54 points - just 1 ‘/2 points behind second-place Oklahoma. Top-ranked Oklahoma State won the conference crown with a score of 98. All 10 Cowboy wrestlers quali fied for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland March 19-21. Iowa State, ranked No. 7, and unranked Missouri rounded out the competition at the Lloyd Noble Arena. Five NU wrestlers made their way into the championship matches. Vering, the No. 2 seed at 177 pounds, met top-seeded Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State in the final round. Vering had won 13 consecutive matches before losing to Munoz 3-4 at the final home dual of the season Feb. 22. “After that loss I kind of tortured myself for a couple of weeks,” Vering said. “This time instead of waiting for him, I wanted to score and set my own pace for the match.” Vering scored a takedown just 5 seconds into the match. He managed an escape and earned the riding time advantage to give him a 4-2 decision Please see WRESTLERS on 9 _• .... . ^m-...—aw Matt Miller/DN NU’S COOKIE BELCHER dives to try and save the ball from going out of bounds against Baylor Friday at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Huskers no match for Kansas By Sam McKewon Senior Reporter KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Maybe the real Nebraska men’s basket ball team slept in at the hotel, or maybe it decided to leave early to get ahead of the weather. Whatever it was, the Nebraska team that showed up Saturday afternoon in Kansas City could n’t match a very real Kansas team. In one of the most complete performances of the weekend, the No. 3 Jayhawks flattened the Cornhuskers, coasting to a 91-59 win in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament in front of 17,100 at Kemper Arena. NU still qualified for the NCAA Tournament, where the Huskers are a No. 11 seed in the West regional and will play Arkansas Thursday in Boise, Idaho. Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said there was little his team could do to stop a Big 12 Conference regular season cham pion that was running on all cylinders. “We walked into a buzz saw,” Nee said. “I think Kansas played every part of the game at a very, very, very high level. We were very impressed with them today.” KU, which won the Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma Sunday, looked a little ripe for an upset going into the game. It played without starting guard Billy Thomas and was unsure if All-American forward Raef LaFrentz would play with a strained left shoulder. But Kansas Coach Roy Williams made the decision in pre-game warm-ups to start LaFrentz after watching him make a 3-pointer. “He’s a competitive rascal,” Williams said. “Having him out there gave us an emotional lift.” LaFrentz may have been the Jayhawks’ leading scorer with 19 points, but there were plenty of points to go around against Nebraska. With the score 9-6 early in the first half, Kansas made its run. KU scored 23 of the next 25 points, opening up a 32-8 lead en route to a 47-23 halftime cush ion. The Huskers (20-1 1 overall) did little to help their own cause. They shot 27 percent in the first half and had nine turnovers. The NU defense allowed Kansas sev eral easy layups and open jump shots. KU shot 54 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game. “They got a lot of offensive rebounds,” NU forward Andy Markowski said. “It seemed like every time I checked one out, there was another there for the layup.” Kansas out rebounded Nebraska 53-35 for the game. The Jayhawks defense suffi ciently harassed NU point guard Tyronn Lue, as well. Lue finished Please see KANSAS on 9