Story By John Gaskins
Photo By Liz Meacham
BROOKE SCHWARTZ (front) and Nicole Kubik lead the Nebraska women’s basketball team in the 1999-2000 season.
Schwartz, Kubik
to cherish final run
The concept dumbfounded Brooke
Schwartz.
The simple words left the senior
guard so dumbfounded that, for a rare
couple of seconds, the “outgoing” personality
of Paul Sanderford’s women’s basketball team
couldn’t find the right words to respond to
them.
And you could tell then it hit her.
All she was told was that this will be her last
year playing competitively with fellow guard
Nicole Kubik.
“That’s the first time I’ve been told that,”
Schwartz said. “That’s sad to hear. We’ve been
playing together for so long, it’s hard to think
our careers will end together after this season. I
can’t see playing basketball without Nicole.”
It’s easy to understand Schwartz’s amaze
ment. She and long-time friend Kubik have
been playing in the same backcourt for seven
years now - three on their championship
Nebraska AAU teams in high school and four as
Comhuskers.
Schwartz said Kubik’s signing with the pro
gram was a big reason why she decided to sign
^Not only do the two share the same backcourt,
they share the same pride in playing for their
home-state team. Both are from western
Nebraska - Kubik from Cambridge, Schwartz
from Gering.
And after helping Sanderford establish NU
as an up-and-coming power - the Huskers
cracked the top 20 for a portion of last season,
went 21-12 and clinched their second consecu
tive NCAA Tournament berth - Kubik and
Schwartz are heavily motivated to make the
most of their last dance with each other.
“(Playing with each other for the last sea
son) makes us want to win even more,”
Schwartz said. “We don’t want to lose in the
NCAA tournament, because that will be our
last game together.”
It’s easy to understand the motivation. At
times in 1998-99, it seemed as though the
dynamic duo carried a team short on rebound
ing and front-court muscle on their backs in
tight games, especially at the end of the season.
The two guards combined for 45 percent of
NU’s scoring, 53 percent bf its steals, 58 percent
ofits assists and 61 percent of its three-pointers.
Kubik earned honorable mention All
America honors, broke the all-time NU season
(136) and career (310) steals record, led the
team in assists (186) and, by averaging 19.8
points-per-game, busted into ninth place on the
Huskers’ all-time scoring list as a junior.
Schwartz was the team’s second-leading
scorer, with 13.2 points per game, and leading
rebounder as a 5-foot-9 guard, with 5.9 per
game. She also fed off Kubik’s knack for creat
ing turnovers - grabbing 72 steals of her own -
and points - dishing out 106 assists.
But it’s not what they’ve done on their own
that makes the Husker duo so dangerous. It’s
how they feed off each other.
“When we were freshmen, we were clicking
well,” Kubik said. “Now, we click more and
more. I just know exactly what she’s going to >
do. It seems like anytime I’m in trouble, there’s
Brooke to bail me out
“It’s hard to describe the respect we have for
each other. There’s sometimes problems on
teams with two players sharing starring roles.
But we’re happy when the other person does
good. We’ve gotten to the point where we can
learn a lot about the game of basketball from
each other.”
Said Schwartz: “Every year, we read each
others’ minds more and more. I can now see
Nicole going for a steal, and I’ll release (for a
fast break). We have this connection on the
court.”
With those kind of numbers and chemistry
come lofty expectations from their head coach,
and Sanderford hasn’t been afraid to apply the
pressure to Kubik and Schwartz.
“I think they’re ready to lead,” Sanderford
said. “They understand what I think is impor
tant, they understand how to win, how to work
hard. Having two senior guards will make me a
much better coach. Leadership pressure is
always going to be on our seniors.”
Anyone involved in Nebraska women’s bas
ketball will say that Schwartz and Kubik are
two different kinds of people, two different
kinds of leaders. Sanderford said that’s a good
thing
“Nicole is a very steady person, very seri
ous about everything and leads by example,”
Sanderford said. “Brooke is light-hearted and
wants to joke, likes to play around a lot.
“But watching them on the floor - those two
complement each other very well. The passes
they make, the way they cover each other up on
defense. Those are things that you can’t teach. It
comes from playing for three years. I’m excited
about that”
Now, with the addition of a talent-loaded
supporting class that includes 6-foot-5 center
and Illinois transfer Casey Leonhardt, freshman
Omaha Benson standout Stephanie Jones and
«
Every year, we read each
others’ minds more and
' more.... We have this
connection on the court.”
Brooke Schwartz
NU guard
three other returning seniors, the two are shoot
ing higher in their last run together.
Kubik and Schwartz weren’t satisfied with
finishing fifth in the Big 12 last year. They
weren’t satisfied with just making it to the
NCAAs, where Kentucky beat them in a 98-92
shootout they swore they should have won.
They want more. And this desire is not a
new concept to them. Now is their time - their
last chance at whatever they’ve been aiming for
since they got here. Kubik said the goal is to
make it to the Sweet 16, and after that, anything
can happen. Schwartz wasn’t too shy to say the
words Final Four.
“Ever since we were freshmen, we’ve been
talking about how good we wanted to be when
we were seniors,” Kubik said.
“One of these days, with the direction this
program is going in, with the kind of coach
Coach Sanderford is, it might not be long before
Nebraska wins a national championship. It
might not be us, but this senior class will feel
like we helped start that when we came here ”