NU women’s basketball team prepares for Michigan State game

It's "Judgment Week" in college basketball. Talk of bubbles, resumes, RPI, SOS, standings and brackets have engulfed the actual games in the final week of the regular season.

Well, at least they have outside the Nebraska women's basketball team's locker room. Inside the Hendricks Center, everyone is too busy preparing for Thursday's game at Michigan State to worry about what comes after. And they should — the Spartans come into Lincoln on a roll, having won five of their past six games to pull into a tie for third in the Big Ten Conference with NU and two other schools.

"Michigan State's playing really well," coach Connie Yori said at her weekly press conference. "I think they've found themselves lately, and they're playing some really good basketball."

That ‘really good basketball' has put MSU on the right side of the bubble, as ESPN's Charlie Crème has the Spartans as one of the "Last Four In" on his ESPN Bracketology. After dropping three out of its last four, No. 23 Nebraska has dropped to a No. 8 seed (in Crème's bracket) and could use a win to stop itself from making an appearance on the bubble alongside MSU.

"They need to win this game – they have NCAA Tournament hopes," Yori said. "As do we and it's a big game for the both of us."

Seeding in the Big Ten Tournament is also a factor on Thursday night. With only Penn State (the almost certain regular season champ) having clinched a bye, six other teams are fighting for the other three byes in the tournament. As NU and MSU are two of those teams, the winner would seem to have a very strong chance of earning an extra day of rest and preparation.

Earning that bye won't be easy against the Spartans, who have a strong frontcourt presence in 6'1" forward Lykendra Johnson, who is second in the conference with 8.9 rebounds per game. The Huskers will have an especially difficult time handling Johnson inside if they are without the services of Emily Cady.

The freshman forward from Seward went down with a left knee injury and her status for the game is uncertain. Yori said she suffered cartilage damage in her knee and she said her status day-to-day.

Despite Cady being NU's second-leading rebounder and third-leading scorer, Lindsey Moore is confident in her team's chances with or without her.

"(Losing Cady) doesn't really affect our game plan," Moore said. "We're assuming we're going to have her, but we have a lot of girls that can step up and fill that role."

The loss of Cady would hurt depth in an already thin frontcourt, as Adrianna Maurer was lost for the season before conference play started. Expanded roles for Meghin Williams and Katie Simon would be in the works to replace Cady's 32 minutes per game in conference play.

The battle in the paint could come down to Jordan Hooper, who is in the running for Big Ten Player of the Year as she is second in the league in scoring (19.7 points per game) and first in rebounding (9.5). After notching 19 points and 18 rebounds Sunday against Wisconsin, Hooper knows she will have to play at a similar level to negate Johnson's impact.

"I'm going to have to be pretty physical (against MSU)," Hooper said. "I'm going to have to box out well. My defense is going to have to be good down low. (Johnson is) a really athletic, really good player so I'm going to have to bring my ‘A' game for her."

Hooper isn't the only player up for a major award. Lindsey Moore, also in the running for player of the year honors, was one of eight finalists named for the Nancy Lieberman award, which goes to the nation's top point guard. Moore sits on the list alongside such stars as Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame), Samantha Prahalis (Ohio State) and Odyssey Sims (Baylor).

Ever the point guard, Moore chose to dish out an assist to her teammates.

"I feel very honored. I wouldn't be anything without my team making shots ... it's almost like a team award," she said.

To Moore, Thursday night is about more than NCAA or Big Ten seeding. It's about righting NU's ship and picking up some momentum so they won't be trying to get their mojo back when it's win or go home.

"You want to play your best basketball at the end of the year," Moore said. "You don't want to wait until the Big Ten Tournament or ... the NCAA Tournament. You don't want to wait until that first (tournament) game. You want to kind of be on a roll, playing and executing."

For that, the right mindset is key.

"It's a huge game, one of the last ones of the season," Hooper said. "(Michigan State is) really talented (and) really athletic. We just have to go in there with the right mindset, the right focus, and we'll be fine."

seanwhalen@dailynebraskan.com