Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — Coach Connie Yori doesn't think it's negative to tick off all the flaws of her 15-1 Nebraska women's basketball team. It's almost exciting.
"We have so much room to get better," she said.
The No. 15 Huskers turn the ball over too much — 18.4 times per game. They don't shoot it well enough — 41 percent from the field. They give up too many offensive rebounds. They fall behind by big margins on the road. They occasionally rely too much on stars Lindsey Moore and Jordan Hooper.
Yet NU is one of three Big Ten teams still undefeated in league play at 4-0. And it has a chance to sweep preseason conference favorite Penn State on Sunday at the Devaney Center.
Oh yeah, Yori said, this fast start — with six freshmen in the rotation — is a big surprise. The mark of a "unique team."
"I don't think I've coached a team that does so many things poorly and yet still wins," Yori said before Nebraska squeaked out a 75-69 win at Wisconsin. "A lot of our success has been about our will, our toughness, our conditioning."
Moore, a junior guard who's averaged 25 points in the last two games, said she's adopted Yori's "realist" perspective. It's good to have expectations, Moore said, but understand that the team is young.
But Moore, too, sees NU's underlying toughness.
"It would have been easy for us to just give up and not get stops and not get big buckets," she said.
She's supplied part of that toughness, spearheading second-half comebacks at Iowa and Wisconsin. But as Hooper has been held in check by defenses designed to smother her, other players have stepped up.
At Iowa, junior forward Meghin Williams scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds. At Wisconsin, it was redshirt freshman guard Rebecca Woodbury who scored 14 points before suffering an ankle injury.
And in both, freshman Emily Cady filled in crucial blanks, averaging 12.5 points and four rebounds. It's the 6-foot-2 Cady who often kicks NU's transition into gear by streaking down the court for quick baskets.
Penn State (12-4, 2-2 Big Ten) is an expert at that transition game.
"They're a fun team," Moore said. "It's fun to get up and down with them."
The Nittany Lions' trio of guards — Maggie Lucas, Alex Bentley and Zhaque Gray — shoulder more than 50 percent of the scoring load and like to run. But they struggled in NU's 71-63 win at State College. Gray, who averages 11.1 points per game, was scoreless. And while Lucas and Bentley combined for 40 points, it took them 47 shots to do it.
Hooper, who scored 31 in the first matchup, expects Penn State to want revenge.
"We're going to have to bring it more," she said.
• NOTES: NU's planning a "Red Out" promotion for Sunday's 2:05 p.m. game. The first 1,000 fans get red "Big Red in the Big Ten" towels. ... The Huskers were left off one Associated Press ballot last week, and appeared as high as No. 12 on two of them. ... Hooper's scoring average is now 20.3 points per game. ... Another big game Sunday takes place in East Lansing, Mich., as No. 11 Ohio State plays at Michigan State. The Spartans and Purdue, which hosts Iowa, are the other 4-0 Big Ten teams.
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402-202-9766, sam.mckewon@owh.com
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