Women's basketball enters Big 12 tourney as team to beat

Winning the Big 12 Conference regular season title has had its fair share of perks for the Nebraska women's basketball team, namely a shiny new ornament to add to the trophy case and a first-round bye in this weekend's conference tournament.

But that honor comes at a price.

This will likely be the last crack many Big 12 teams will get at dethroning the No. 3 Cornhuskers, and NU expects its opponents to give everything they have.

"I think we definitely have a target on our back, and every team is going to be gunning to beat us," Husker guard Dominique Kelley said. "But for the most part, I think we've done a really good job of just approaching our first tournament game as any other game."

Nebraska's undefeated conference record earned the Huskers the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament and one of four first-round byes. NU will start tournament play Friday against the winner of Thursday's game between Kansas State and Texas Tech.

Nebraska head coach Connie Yori, who was named Big 12 Coach of the Year Monday, said receiving a bye game at this point in the season is critical for her team. The Huskers' high-energy, defensive style of play can leave the players drained after games, and Yori said any extra rest helps.

"It's awesome – it's great to be able to focus on ourselves a little bit here and try to get better," Yori said. "This is a really hard tournament to win, particularly for a team that plays our style. If you had to win four games in four days, that's ridiculous."

Senior guard and Big 12 co-defensive player of the year Yvonne Turner believes the bye is helpful for another reason.

"Having a bye in the first round should make our team hungry to play and get after it," Turner said. "I'm very anxious to get out there and start playing again."

Although they enter the tournament as favorites, the Huskers insist they won't overlook any opponents, and that winning the first game is critical. Yori said she thinks if NU gets past the first round, her squad will lock up one of four coveted No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

"We're going into the Big 12 Tournament in a little different situation than we have in the past," Yori said. "There's a real good chance if we win a first round game, we're going to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament."

Connecticut, Stanford, NU and Tennessee are poised to receive No. 1 seeds according to current standings. But Duke – recent winners of the ACC conference tournament – and Xavier are lurking close behind, waiting for one of the favorites to slip up.

"If we go and lose our first game in the Big 12 Tournament, who's to say we'll get a No. 1 seed?" Turner said.

The conference tournament has been NU's kryptonite this decade. The Huskers are 1-4 in tournament play since the '04-05 season, the lone win coming against Oklahoma State in 2005. Six current Huskers were around for that game and, in their last tournament run, seniors are looking to taste victory in Kansas City again.

"This is our six seniors' last chance at the Big 12 Tournament, and we haven't won a first-round game since I was a freshman," Turner said. "Just being able to win that first game will be an accomplishment for our seniors. We're really excited to play."

Despite all the season's accomplishments, which on Monday included Turner, Kelsey Griffin and Cory Montgomery being named first-team all-conference performers, Kelley said the team's ultimate goals have yet to be reached.

"Coach Yori's done a really good job all year of keeping us grounded," Kelley said. "It's nice that we clinched the (regular season title), but we'd be disappointed if this was the highlight of our season. We know that there are still a lot of things out there that we want to achieve."

danhoppen@dailynebraskan.com