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A new coach. A move to Division I that eliminated any real team goals. And a reduced scoring role.

Welcome to your senior year, Heather Pohl.

But the University of Nebraska at Omaha's 6-foot forward, preparing for Friday's 7 p.m. Senior Night game with Dakota Wesleyan, has no complaints heading into the final home game of her career at Sapp Fieldhouse.

"It's been challenging at times, because I've had to get out of my comfort zone, but I've grown as a person and player this year," Pohl said. "It's been a good learning experience for me.

"As long as we get the 'W,' I really don't care if I only score two points. Because if not points, I know that I'm contributing somewhere else — rebounds or assists or doing the little things that help us win."

First-year coach Chance Lindley is also pleased with Pohl's production, even if the Millard West graduate's scoring average has dropped from 17.2 points per game last year to 10.0 this year.

"It's been wonderful to see Heather transform into a complete player," he said. "She can do a lot besides just scoring, and I wish we had her more than just one year. She's been great for us. There's been a lot of change for her going into her senior year, and she's done a good job of adapting to a new staff and getting used to a different culture."

Pohl scored 10 points in Tuesday's loss at South Dakota to become the 23rd member of UNO's career 1,000-point club.

"It's always exciting when you can go and leave something behind like that," she said. "I'm glad I'm able to leave my name behind."

While Pohl's minutes and 3-point attempts have stayed steady, her overall field goal attempts (338 in 26 games last year, 206 in 24 games this season) have dropped. She's gotten to the foul line less (121 attempts last year, 39 this season).

"We challenged her to be more than just a great shooter, and she's risen to that challenge," Lindley said. "And that's paid off in a lot of our wins. We still go through her a lot, the difference is that when you have more players and more options, maybe there are fewer shots."

Perhaps no UNO player in the 3-point era has successfully combined long-range shooting finesse and inside rebounding muscle like Pohl.

She's a 92.3-percent shooter (36 of 39) from the foul line this season and is at 80 percent (200 of 250) for her career. From 3-point range, she's 48 of 138 (34.8 percent) this year and 161 of 476 (33.8) for her career.

Pohl is third in school history in career 3-pointers, needing eight to pass Karen Thies (2004 through 2007) for second.

She's also averaging a career-best 6.7 rebounds (up from 5.8 last year and 4.9 as a sophomore) for a career total of 492.

After Friday, UNO wraps up its season with a trip to Louisiana with games Feb. 18 at New Orleans and Feb. 20 at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Pohl has applied for graduate school to pursue a master's degree in speech pathology.

"It's bittersweet," Pohl said. "It's exciting to know I'll be moving on to a different part of my life. But it's sad because basketball is what I've known all my life since about fourth grade, and that part of my life will be coming to an end."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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