Twin Cities ties
It's a homecoming weekend for Cory Montgomery, but fellow senior Kelsey Griffin has been eyeing a Twin Cities trip for some time, too.
Griffin's mom, Jan, grew up in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and her maternal grandparents still live close by.
Griffin is from Alaska, but she'll still have plenty of supporters in the stands when No. 1 seed Nebraska plays 16 seed Northern Iowa at 6:06 p.m. Sunday in Williams Arena.
A fan of the Vikings and Twins during her childhood, Griffin said she considered becoming a Gopher as she went through her recruiting process.
“That was really the only college I knew about 'cause my mom was from here,” Griffin said. “I always felt ties to Minnesota growing up.”
Montgomery led Cannon Falls High School out of the state tournament's first round at Williams Arena. Cannon Falls is about an hour drive southeast of the Twin Cities.
Practice pleases Yori
Nebraska's Connie Yori said her team left Lincoln Friday after an “outstanding” practice, exactly what she's come to expect from her veteran group.
The Huskers have had no issues bouncing back from their first loss of the season, an 80-70 defeat to Texas A&M last week.
The eighth-year NU coach didn't like the way her team rebounded on both ends, and she wasn't pleased with how the NU players defended in transition during that Big 12 tournament semifinal loss.
Those were areas of emphasis during the week, as they have been all year, according to Griffin. And the team has raised its level of intensity, she said.
“We know that it's one-and-done from here on out, and so (we have) to practice with that mentality,” Griffin said. “I believe my team is ready — as am I — to start playing some games again.”
Write that down
Yori had a clever response when asked about her motivation to become a college head coach.
Speaking to reporters during a press conference Saturday, Yori said she doesn't regret her choice, considering her second option was to pursue a career in journalism.
“As a journalism major, I think I made a good move,” she said.
But in the mind of Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren, there was never any doubt that Yori would coach. The two former Creighton stars were teammates in the mid-1980s.
“She was always telling everybody what to do,” Warren said.
Summitt lineage
Speaking of coaching connections, two disciples of Tennessee legend Pat Summitt will face each other in Minneapolis as soon as Nebraska's first-round game ends.
UCLA's Nikki Caldwell and North Carolina State's Kellie Harper both played under Summitt. And Sunday their teams will battle for the right to advance to the NCAA tournament's second round.
Caldwell finished her Tennessee playing career in 1994. Harper started hers in 1995. The two former Volunteers aren't incredibly close, Caldwell said, but they certainly carry a mutual respect.
“You know the sweat equity that you have to put in when you're under coach Summitt,” Caldwell said. “We're always going to root for each other because of that connection and because of that underlying bond that we all went through.”
Kastanek focus: UCLA
North Carolina State's Marissa Kastanek said she was too busy celebrating her team's at-large bid Monday night to react to the possibility of meeting her home-state school in the second round.
And now, all her focus is on No. 8 seed UCLA.
Kastanek, a former standout at Lincoln Southeast, led the Wolfpack to an impressive run in the ACC tournament, where they fell to Duke in the title game. But the weekend success turned out to be enough to get N.C. State an NCAA bid.
That's what got Kastanek excited. She said she really hasn't thought much about the chance of playing Nebraska if the teams win Sunday.
“I was just happy that our name popped up on the selection show board,” said Kastanek, the ACC freshman of the year.
Obama picked Huskers
In a story March 17 about President Barack Obama's NCAA tournament brackets, the Associated Press reported erroneously that he picked No. 2 seed Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four. Obama picked No. 1 seed Nebraska to advance from that region.
— Jon Nyatawa
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