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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2000)
Losses turn KSU into rival MANHATTAN, Kan. — Four I' north end zone general admis sion game tickets; six hours of frost bite on every extremity of the human Joshua Camenzind Doay; rronr row view of Nebraska’s second straight loss at Kansas State-$320. Watching Wildcat fans storm the field and tear down the goal posts following a one-point win over the Huskers to all but lock up the Big 12 North title - worth less. The Kansas State-Nebraska game itself was a beauty consid ering the weather. Both teams had their fair share of sloppy play and penalties, while the Wagner Field AstroTtirf held up about as well as the Icebox in snowy con ditions. Images of Eric Crouch stum bling around for most of the game, Nebraska's defensive backs flying horizontally in the air and Quincy Morgan’s No. 5 will be embedded in Husker fans’ memories for quite some time. Add in the face mask of’98, and it seems that something is brewing between NU and its nearest Big 12 neighbor. mars right- a rivalry. Kansas State wanted it dearly, and now it has it. And for the most part, it was done the right way - with a combined dis> like between the two schools too big for an 18 inch column. For once, Wildcat fans have accom plished some thing besides cheering on their team against the bottom-feeders of college foot ball. Kansas State fans have built a hatred for the scarlet and creme that extends all the way from the Nebraska Kansas border to the southern most parts of the Jayhawk state. Every Powercat emblem that graces the license plates of three out of five Kansas residents living within a 50-mile radius of U.S. Highway 77 tells you that friendly territory's in the rearview mirror. Once in Manhattan, the stares and the jeers given by the locals were about as cold as the Manhattan air. Some joked and some just glanced. But you could tell they were annoyed by your presence. How dare the big, bad Husker fans invade our quaint little town. And this is all before entering KSU stadium, where 53,811 Cat backers smelled blood. now uare me Dig, Daa nusKer fans invade our quaint little town. And this is all before enter ing KSU stadium, where 53,811 Cat backers smelled blood. Wagner Field in all of its glory is not a bad, little scene. Besides the deep haze permanently embedded over the Little Apple’s skies, KSU fans have done well to start catchy traditions in the little time that they have had to cheer for their team, Their cheers, Willie the Wildcat and even the school col ors are annoying. And that’s not including the hour of Jock Jams early entrants 3 intothestadiumhadtoendure.lt felt like we were getting ready for a junior varsity basketball game. Some things are clever and some are just childish - all show ing KSU’s ignorance to success. Even a die-hard Notre Dame fan and longtime Husker hater cheered for NU on Saturday because nobody with an ounce of Comhusker blood can stand the roar of the Powercat and the mob of purple. But some^SU fans have matured in the past two years. Those Wildcat fans who braved blizzard-like conditions in Waterville, Kan., to acknowledge the Big Red caravan back to civi Please see RIVALS on 11 NU advances with victory over Richmond ■ Nebraska scored three goals in the second half to earn a birth in the Sweet 16. JAMIE SUHR In their tournament opener, the Comhuskers broke open a 1 0 halftime score with three goals for a 4-0 victory over Richmond to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. “We knew we had to be more competitive (than the Spiders) coming out in the second half,” Lauren Tatum said. "We had to come out with energy and emo tion and execute to try and put them away with a goal.” That one goal NU would have seemed difficult when looking down Richmond's sea son results. The Spiders relinquished more than one goal just twice. Richmond held NCAA Tournament counterparts Duke, Clemson, William & Mary, Virginia and Dartmouth all to a single goal. But the Huskers poured on second half goals from Tatum, Christy Harms and Jenny Benson, putting the game out of reach for Richmond. The Spiders had their chances to narrow the gap in the second half. After being out-shot 16-4 in the first half, Richmond took six shots on goal in the second half. “Teams like Nebraska that attack so relentlessly are going to give up a few chances, but I PleaseseeNCAAonll Steven 6ender/DN Nebraska sophomore Kori Saunders scrambles for the ball as Richmond^ Alesha Irvin faHs.The Husker soccer team won the second-round NCAA tournament game (after a first round bye) by a score of 4-0 on Saturday at Abbott Sports Complex. Women's basketball lacks spark in Aussie matchup ■ Huskers show youth and inexperience in preseason exhibition game. BY LINCOLN ARNEAL The women's basketball team looked like a team unsure of its identity in its game against the Australian Institute of Sport on Sunday. Rotating lineups, inconsis tent play and lack of emotion caused NU's problems as the Aussies handed NU an 81-58 defeat. “We have to find our style and find our niche,” Nebraska Coach Paul Sanderford said. “We have to make some adjust ment as coaches (to improve.)” Both teams battled it out early in the game until the Australians broke it open with a 16-4 run that made the score 30 13. The Cornhuskers never recovered from the run. The Australian team, made up of the country’s best 17- and 18-year-olds, were almost able to score at will because of their quick, precision passing and cuts to die basket. “I thought they passed the ball as well as any team I’ve seen in a long time," Sanderford said. Nebraska was hampered by foul trouble early as Margaret Richards and Monique Whitfield picked up three fouls apiece and were limited to six minutes of playing time in the first half. “Defensively, we didn’t play well in the first half,” Sanderford said, “and they took advantage of it. They shot 75 percent, I was wondering if they were ever going to miss.” Freshman K.C. Cowgill tried to spark a rally as she drained two three-pointers in a row to cut the Aussie lead to 16 with 4:41 left in the first half, but that was as close as the Huskers got the rest of the game. Cowgill was one of the high lights for the Huskers as she scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and didn't turn the belli over in 26 minutes. Nine of her 11 points came on 3-7 shooting behind the three-point line. “(Cowgill) is one of the best shooters you will ever see,” sen ior Amanda Went said. The Australians extended their lead to as much as 32 in the second half, but NU finished the game with a 9-0 run. Thirteen different Huskers saw playing time, including five sophomores and four freshman. Sanderford credited some of the miscues to the team’s youth. “We are still very young and very inexperienced,” Sanderford said. “Our impa tience was very evident in shooting the basketball.” Casey Leonhardt led "We are still very young and very inexperienced. Our impatience was very evident in shooting the basketball." Paul Sanderford NU women’s basketball coach Nebraska in scoring with 13 points in 25 minutes on the floor. Even though she only made two field goals, Leonhardt had career highs in made free throws and attempts. Went chipped in 10 more points for NU. The Huskers ended the exhi bition season with a 1-1 record. However, Went is not sure that they are ready to begin the regu lar season quite yet. “I wish there was about a week more or maybe another game (before the season starts),” Went said. "We have a lot of little things we still need to put in.” Nebraska is the host of the Time Warner Cable Classic. Its first game is on Friday against Oakland. Lousiville and UC Santa Barbara play on the other side of the bracket. David Clasen/DN Shannon Howell, Nebraska guard, fouls Shelly Hammonds, Australian Institute of Sport guard, on Sunday during an exhibition game at Devaney Sports Center. Australia won 81-58, shutting down Nebraska's offense for most of the game. During the first 40 minutes, the Nebraska offense had only 77 total yards. The Comhuskers got things back on track after trailing 23-14 late in the third quarter against Kansas State. On their only scoring drives of the second half, the Huskers combined for 127 yards on 13 plays, all on the ground, during a mysterious seven-minute peri od. Nebraska I-back Dan Alexander didn’t really have a clear explanation of what was wrong with the offense. “Basically, in the fourth quar ter, we got back to basics,” said Alexander, who finished with 130 yards on 18 carries and scored both of Nebraska's second-half touchdowns. “Everything was clicking. I’m not sure why it was n’t like that for the rest of the day.1 *** K-State wideout Quincy Morgan finished the game with seven catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns. The 199 yards ranks as the second-best receiving day in Wildcat history. Morgan also became the first KSU receiver to break 1,000 yards receiving in two consecutive years. “We didn’t want to go out badly against Nebraska,” Morgan said. “We knew this was a big game. The loser goes home.” *** The loss dropped NU Coach Frank Solich to 0-5 on the road against Big 12 opponents ranked in the Top 25. Solich lost to Kansas State twice (1998, 2000) and to Texas (1999), Texas A&M (1998) and Oklahoma (2000) once. Overall, Solich’s teams are 1-5 in road games against ranked opponents, the lone win coming in overtime against Notre Dame on Sept. 9. *#* NU quarterback Eric Crouch finished the day with 82 yards of total offense. Before the game, he was averaging 192 yards of total offense per game. Crouch said a lot of the Wildcats success was being in the right place at the right time. “It was a guessing game,” Crouch said. “For one quarter, we guessed right' *** The Nebraska defense sacked KSU quarterback Jonathan Beasley three times on Saturday. Coming into Saturday’s game, KSU had allowed only three quarterback sacks all sea son. *** The win gave Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder his 97^ victory in 12 years. From 1954 to 1988, Kansas State won only 97 games. *** The Huskers managed to slow the Wildcat passing game to 234 yards and just 12 comple tions on 36 attempts. “We were susceptible to that crossing route, and we were able to only get it going enough to slow them down,” said Defensive Coordinator Craig Bohl. “They stopped converting the second and-long and third-and-long, but on their final drive, they got it going with the running game, and that's where we figure we’re strongest. “It was tough to take at the end because we had started making plays, and then we stopped." With a win at Missouri on Saturday, Kansas State can clinch a berth in the Big 12 champi onship game in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 2.
