Nebraska and Kansas are probably sick of playing each other.
Both schools have played each other five times over the past two seasons. They’ll meet again in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Championships on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
NU sophomore Dominique Kelley said she feels her team knows KU better than anybody. She added that both teams are well aware of each other’s style of play, so it comes down to execution.
“I thought we prepared really well last time we played KU,” Kelley said. “I just think we need to dictate better and try to take more things away from them.”
The Cornhuskers will go into the game having won five of their last seven games in conference. Only the top four teams in the conference equal that mark. It’s a hot streak ninth-ranked Nebraska hopes to ride into the tournament.
Nebraska coach Connie Yori has said all year that the Big 12 is the best league in the country, and it’s very difficult to win any game. She said the Huskers have done a great job responding to adversity and that has enabled them to come away with wins.
Yori added that her team started 1-8 and eventually turned things around, but it took the better part of the season.
“We’ve turned the corner a little bit,” Yori said. “If you can say that our schedule softened up a little bit, maybe, because we had a couple home games with teams that we were able to beat.”
Nebraska played three of its final five games in Lincoln and beat Big 12 bottom-feeders Missouri and Colorado. The Huskers traveled to Oklahoma State for their final regular season contest and came away with their first road win in league play.
That gave the team confidence, Yori said. She also said NU’s neutral court match-up with the Jayhawks will feel like a tough road game.
“I don’t think it’s going to be all that neutral,” she said. “I think there are going to be probably 7-8,000 Kansas fans there. They might have more fans at the Big 12 tournament than they did when we played them down there (in Lawrence, Kan.) a week and a half ago.”
Yori said the Jayhawks are one of the best dribble-penetration and jump shooting teams in the conference. KU’s size at the guard position creates problems for the Huskers.
The player Nebraska is most likely worried about, junior Danielle McCray, picked up her first All-Big 12 Team award on Monday.
McCray poured in 30 against NU in January and another 18 points at home two weeks ago. Nebraska made an effort in practice to put defensive pressure on McCray every time she touches the ball.
Last year, KU defeated the Huskers 73-67 in the first round of the tournament. Kelley said NU has come a long way and doesn’t want to stop now.
“Considering the injuries and everything else we’ve battled through this year, we’ve done better, I think, than we thought we were going to do ourselves and obviously a little bit better than everybody else anticipated for us,” Kelley said. “We finished higher than we were picked to finish.”
Without scoring machine Kelsey Griffin and defensive specialist Nikki Bober, who have been out with injuries, Nebraska has had to adjust its playing style.
Kelley said even if the Huskers had just Bober they probably would be headed to the NCAA Tournament, let alone the presence of Griffin.
However, Kelley believes a NCAA berth is not out of reach.
NU has already qualified for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament with its 15 wins overall. Kelley thinks a special performance will be needed at the Big 12’s if the Huskers hope to play in the NCAAs.
“I think we probably have to win it all,” she said.
jeffstraub@dailynebraskan.com
NU women’s basketball to face Kansas in crucial game
Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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