SportsMonday
Huskers'title hopes
dashed by Huskies
BY JAMIE SUHR
No scoreboard was needed to tell the
fate of the Nebraska soccer team.
NU forward Kelly Rheem’s teary eyes
told the story of the No. 4 seed Huskers’
shocking 1-0 loss in the Sweet 16 to the
University of Connecticut
“We never, ever looked past this game,
but never in our minds did we think it was
going to end here either,” Rheem said, sit
ting at the post-game press conference
table.
The Huskies were able to take advan
tage of an NU mistake at the 38-minute
mark. Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc tried to
clear the ball, but UConn’s Sarah Popper
intercepted the clearance pass and dropped
the ball to Alexa Borisjuk, who chipped it
over the head of LeBlanc, who was stuck in
between the goal line and the 18-yard box.
UConn (17-6-2) could have made the
game a lot worse early as two Huskies' shots
were deflected off the goal post. One of the
shots hit the near post and rolled straight
down the goal line to LeBlanc, who couldn’t
see the ball until the last second.
The Huskers’ (22-2) best - and final -
chance came in the 85th minute. Midfielder
Meghan Anderson sent a comer kick that
UConn goalie Maria Yatrakis mishandled,
causing a scramble in front of the net
The play took Yatrakis out of position
leaving Huskers Kori Saunders and Danica
Carey with two shots, but both were blocked
by UConn defenders and cleared out of
bounds.
“I knew they weren’t going to score by
Nebraska 0
Connecticut 1
the way that we were playing and the atti
tude that we weren't going to give this game
up,” said Yatrakis, who made nine saves.
NU Coach John Walker said the differ
ence between this game and the Huskers’ 2
0 win at UConn earlier this season was sim
ple.
"In Storrs (Conn.), they never had the
lead (in the first game),andhere they got the
lead and it gave them a little bit of confi
dence,” Walker said.
Another difference, Walker pointed out,
was that Connecticut used a fourth defend
er. Earlier in the season, the Huskies used
only three defenders, which UConn Coach
Len Tsantiris said was a way to slow down
the Husker attack.
And the new defense worked to perfec
tion as the Huskers were shut out for die first
time all year.
NU out-shot the Huskies 20-16 and 9-4
for shots on goal, but UConn’s opportuni
ties were better than the Huskers’.
“Our style worked today,” Tsantiris said.
“It doesn’t matter who we play and where,
it’s just a game.”
The Big Red’s early exit from the NCAA
Tournament put to waste its home field
advantage and a chance to go toe-to-toe
with 15-time national champion North
Carolina - the elite soccer program in the
country.
Instead, the Huskers found themselves
watching UConn celebrate on the home
field NU fought all year to have.
Forward Kelly
Rheemkeeps
control of the
ball as she gets
around
Connecticut for
ward Sarah
Popper in the
second half of
the third round
of the NCAA
tournament NU
out-shot UConn
20-16 in the
game, but failed
to capitalize and
was defeated 1
0 at the Abbot
Sports Complex.
Sanderford's troops win Cable Classic
BY JOHN GASKINS
Rule No. 1 for observers of die 2000-01 Nebraska
women’s basketball team: Never assume anything.
They may be incredibly young. They may, accord
ing to Coach Paul Nebraska 69
Sanderford, get
cases of the Santa Barbara 61
“hypers” and '
"colorblindness” every now and again when handling
the basketball. And they may have taken a severe, 23
point beating at the hands of a bunch of 17-and-18
year-old Australians on their home wood in an exhibi
tion game.
But die Huskers have already figured out how to
beat a top 25 team two games into what is predicted to
be a shaky season.
NU followed a 91-59 romp over Oakland of
Michigan on Friday night with a
statement- making 69-61 tri
•y* y* umph over No. 25 Califomia
WCve got Santa Barbara to capture the
those Utters 2001 Time Warner Classic tide.
i , Acrowdof3,121attheBob
OUl Of trie Devaney Sports Center wit
WCiy. I don Y nessed the same Husker team
think this ******°°ked like scared puppy
irnrm i ruz dogs last week turn into a bunch
team is of pit bulls.
nninn tn bo And their coach took a bite
“ -ii of last week’s criticism that the
particularly season might be grim after last
intimidatpd Sunday’s 81-58 loss to the
Australian Institute of Sport.
by “A week ago, you guys didn’t
anybody. ” give US a chance,” Sanderford
said. “So, don’t ever write us off.
_ , _ ... “Hopefully, we’ve got those
Sanderford j jtters 0ut of the way. I don’t
NU coach think this team is going to be
particularly mnmiaatea oy any
body,” Sanderford said.
Not even Sanderford can assume anything.
Case in point senior forward Monique Whitfield -
who had shot a grand total of three, 3-pointers in her
33-game NU career - launching a 3-bomb with three
minutes left and the Huskers up by just three points
with the shot clock reading six seconds.
“I just looked at the shot clock and heard some
body shout (the time) out,” Whitfield said, “and just let
it go. I was confident I could make it”
Her coach wasn’t
“She was working on 3’s this morning in the shoot
around, and I said ‘stay in your range,”’ Sanderford
said. Hie shot fell and the bucket put NU up, 62-55, a
lead it protected by hitting seven of eight ftee throws
in the final 48 seconds.
Those shots were badly needed considering
Whitfield (11 points on 5 of 7 shooting) made the only
three of NU’s 13 shot attempts in the final 10 minutes.
The senior, who sat out last year with a tom right
ACL, was one of many fresh NU faces providing
Josh Wolfe/DN
NU guard Margaret Richards puts pressure on a Santa Barbara guard during NU's 69-61 Time Warner Cable Classic championship
game win over the Gauchos on Sunday. Richards was named tournament MVP after scoring 14 points in the final.
sparks. The youngsters also had a hand in the team’s
19 turnovers and 24 personal fouls.
But NU’s tenacious defense forced 22 UCSB
turnovers on 35 percent shooting and wore down the
Gauchos' nine-deep roster. Katye Christensen led the
team with 22 points but didn’t have enough help to
overcome NU’s savvy.
“In practice, we don’t have to face someone who
Please see WOMEN on 9
Collier era
begins with
loss to ORU
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
TULSA, Okla.—Nebraska’s season opening 87
83 loss to Oral Roberts on Saturday seemed com
monplace.
The Huskers traveled to the state of Oklahoma,
committed is Nebraska 83
turnovers and J
lost to a Sutton- Oral Roberts 87
coached team.
The catch was NU wasn’t in Stillwater, and the
coach was Scott Sutton, Eddie’s youngest son.
However, the outcome was no different as NU
failed to win on the road for the 13th straight time.
The Huskers, without the suspended Kimani
Ffriend and Rodney Fields, were also unable to start
Barry Collier's debut season on the right foot
“It would have been big,” said Cookie Belcher,
who scored a career-high 27 points and had six
assists to lead the Huskers. “We haven’t really dug
ourselves a hole yet, but we are starting to dig."
It was the Golden Eagles, not the Huskers, who
dug themselves a hole early in front of3,459 fans at
the Mabee Center as NU jumped out to a 6-0 lead
behind three ORU turnovers. Nebraska extended its
lead to 18-6 with 12:38 remaining and would gain a
12-point advantage twice more before Oral Roberts
mounted its comeback.
NU held a nine-point lead with 4:32 left in the
first half after a Cary Cochran 3-pointer, but ORU
would go on to outscore the Comhuskers 16-4 from
that point to take a 41-38 advantage into halftime.
“Human nature says, ‘Hey, we’re in control here
and we were not,”’ Collier said.
ORU’s Markius Barnes scored 19 of his career
high 24 points in the first half. The Golden Eagles
made 16 of 18 free throws and shot 47.8 percent to
keep from getting blown out early.
“They attacked better in the first half and we
settled for perimeter shots,” said Collier, whose
team shot 4-17 on 3-pointers.
The second 20 minutes saw Oral Roberts gain
eight point leads twice - the latest coming at 3:14
left in the game. NU slowly battled back and with
1:19 left, two free throws by Belcher cut the lead to
three. Following an ORU turnover, Belcher missed
and NU was forced to foul.
ORU’s Evan Black made two free throws and it
appeared the Husker’s fate was sealed. With four
seconds remaining, Belcher was able to cut the lead
back down to two with a 3-pointer. But Black hit
two more, making Oral Roberts 22 of 25 from the
Please see BASKETBALL on 9
Mens cross country to championships after surprise bid
■ Wittier and Carrizales look
for high finishes at nationals
after successful regular seasons
BYJILLZEMAN
Nebraska cross country run
ners Aaron Carrizales and Marcus
Witter have the chance today to
end their running careers at NU
in style.
The pair of seniors, along with
five other members of Nebraska’s
it** v*
cross country team, will compete
at the NCAA Championships in
Ames, Iowa for the first time since
1997.
The men’s team squeaked
into the 31-team roster after a
fifth-place finish at last week’s
NCAA Midwest Region meet in
Waterloo, Iowa.
To qualify for the event, teams
across the nation are divided into
nine regions, and the top two fin
ishers of each region automati
cally receive a bid for the meet.
The 13 remaining slots are
doled out to the rest of the teams,
and the Huskers were surprised
when they learned last Monday
they’d qualified.
But a solid season and high
finishes by Carrizales and Witter
pushed them to the front of the
pack to join the big dance.
Carrizales and Witter will be
accompanied by a young, inexpe
rienced team at the competition.
Sophomores Jed Barta, Ian
Gray and Mike Kamm and fresh
men Kyle Wyatt and Eric
Rasmussen round out the Husker
roster for today’s race.
Coach Jay Dirksen said after
the regional competition, he did
n’t think the Huskers would make
the cut.
But after looking at the results
of the other regions, Dirksen said
he was still hopeful the team
would make it in.
Thejcompetition will likely be
dominated by top-ranked
Colorado, but either No. 2
Stanford and No. 4 Providence
could also take the crown.
While a No. 1 finish probably
won’t happen for the Huskers,
Dirksen said he looked for Witter
and Carrizales to end their run
ning careers with a bang.
An individual top-20 finish
cinches All-American honors,
something Witter has sought after
through his running career, he
said in an interview in
September.
“They definitely have the
potential/' Dirksen said.
A finish in the top 20 or 25
would please Dirksen, he said.
Although the Huskers barely
made it into the competition,
Dirksen said he still thought the
runners stand a good chance in
the race.
Nebraska has faced 23 of this
year’s 31 competitors, defeating
eight of them.
“I don’t want to put any limits
on us,” he said. “I just want go out
and run our best”
