Season Preview: Huskers Making Moves to Improve

Lincoln -- A whole new atmosphere is spinning around the Nebraska women's basketball program. The smiles have returned to the players faces and the focus is clearly on the immediate future.

"Basketball is supposed to be fun. It is a game," Coach Connie Yori said. "When we got here last year, I think our players had forgotten how to have fun. We needed to bring the fun back."

But the second-year Husker head coach needed to help her players find more than just fun.

"We needed to establish a better work ethic, better discipline and develop a winner's mentality," Yori said. "That mentality doesn't always equate to winning on the court, but you have to have the mentality of being a winner. That means that you have to work hard on a daily basis. You have to take care of the tasks at hand. You have to approach things in a positive way."

The principles Yori helped restore in the Husker women's basketball program last season have Nebraska moving quickly in the right direction.

After playing the 2002-03 season with just five or six active scholarship players throughout the season, the Huskers carry a nucleus of five players with extensive starting experience into the 2003-04 season.

Along with the returning starters, the Huskers will add a group of talented newcomers who will battle for immediate playing time while providing the luxury of depth Nebraska never had last season.

"I know we are moving in the right direction, and we have the program on a more stable base right now," Yori said. "I know that our players are working significantly harder this summer than they were last summer. Our players have a better understanding of what they need to do to compete."

One of the leaders of Nebraska's charge toward competitiveness in the Big 12 Conference in 2003-04 will be senior Alexa Johnson. The 6-1 forward from Hacienda Heights, Calif., captured honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors as a junior by ranking among conference leaders in scoring and rebounding last season.

Johnson established herself as one of the most improved players in the Big 12 a year ago and averaged a team-high 14.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. She provided a consistent scoring and rebounding threat for the Huskers throughout the season, producing double figures in points on 24 occasions, while adding five double-figure rebounding efforts. She also averaged nearly 34 minutes per game, more than doubling her playing time and production from her sophomore season (6.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 16 mpg).

Yori said Johnson's improvement was the result of better conditioning, more playing time and the responsibility of being NU's go-to player.

"She knew that she was going to be the one taking most of the shots for us, game in and game out," Yori said. "Before she had been relegated to a reserve position. She wants to play a major role and is willing to accept the responsibilities that go along with that. She wants to be a scorer, and she wants to help carry the load."

Johnson will be rejoined in the Husker lineup by NU's second-leading scorer from a year ago, senior Margaret Richards. The 5-9 guard from Louisville, Ky., gained a fourth year of eligibility by graduating in August of 2003 after originally coming to Nebraska as a partial academic qualifier and sitting out the 1999-2000 season.

Last season, Richards averaged 11.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and a team-leading 1.4 steals per game. Richards also averaged 34 minutes per game a year ago. With more depth in the backcourt, Yori is hoping Richards can provide even more production in less playing time this season.

"When she plays with energy, she makes us a lot better," Yori said. "Fatigue really became a factor for her last season because we were asking her to do so much both offensively and defensively. She is capable of doing great things for us, and we are hoping that she can become more consistent."

The Huskers are also hoping to be bolstered by the return of a pair of seniors who are proven scorers and rebounders in their own rights.

Katie Morse, a 6-4 center from Minden, Iowa, started Nebraska's first seven games last season and averaged 12.0 points and a team-leading 7.9 rebounds per game before suffering a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee in the second half in NU's win over No. 25 Cincinnati on Dec. 15.

Morse's rehabilitation has gone well during the off-season, and Yori and the Huskers hope Morse can pick up where she left off before the injury last season.

"We were 5-2 and had just beaten a top-25 team with Katie in the lineup," Yori said. "Without her, we only managed three more wins. She was playing the best basketball of her career before the injury and she was playing a lot of minutes. Hopefully she can provide us a strong presence inside for a full season."

Keasha Cannon-Johnson missed the entire 2002-03 season as a redshirt. The 5-10 guard from Kansas City, Kan., captured Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year honors after leading the Huskers in every major category as a junior.

Cannon-Johnson averaged 12.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game in 2001-02. If she can regain the form of her junior season, Nebraska could make a major move in the conference standings.

"We hope that she can get back to the level she was playing at as a junior," Yori said. "It is probably going to take her some time to get back in the flow, but Keasha loves the game of basketball and it is important to her. She wants to be a good player, and we expect her to get back to a strong level, hopefully by Christmas."

Along with bringing back four senior starters, the Huskers return point guard Jina Johansen. The 5-7 junior from Dannebrog, Neb., was Nebraska's workhorse a year ago, averaging a school-record 36.7 minutes per game.

Johansen tied for second in the Big 12 with 5.5 assists per contest, while adding 5.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Her 153 assists ranked as the second-best single-season total by a sophomore in school history, while her 1,028 total minutes ranked fifth in school history.

While Johnson, Richards, Morse and Cannon-Johnson provide Johansen with plenty of targets for distribution, Yori is hoping Johansen can become more of a shooting threat as a junior.

"We need Jina to beome more of a scorer," Yori said. "She did a great job of distributing the ball, playing intelligently and making good decisions, but she has got to become a better scorer for us. "

Although Nebraska returns five starters, playing time will still be up for grabs for Nebraska's six incoming freshmen.

One of the top candidates to provide the Huskers with immediate help inside is freshman Chelsea Aubry. The 6-2 forward from Kitchener, Ontario, is a member of the Canadian National program and played for the Canadians at the World University Games in August.

A second post player, Jessica Gerhart, could also push for playing time. The 6-2 forward from Fenton, Iowa, has good size and a good skill level.

"We feel like we signed two post players in Chelsea Aubry and Jessica Gerhart who are going to be good players for us," Yori said. "Chelsea's international experience is tremendous, and Jessica is only going to get better because of her strong work habits."

While Aubry and Gerhart are expected to give the Huskers more options inside than they had last season, a bevy of guards could battle for time in the backcourt.

Heather Kephart, a 5-8 freshman guard from Canute, Okla., could provide an instant spark from long range.

As a prep player in Oklahoma, Kephart shattered the state high school scoring mark by pouring in 2,747 points in her career. Her prolific scoring numbers came despite being hindered for much of her senior season by a shoulder injury that required off-season surgery.

Kephart was cleared to compete again by the end of August, and if she can regain her shooting touch, she could add some punch to an NU roster that hit just 28.4 percent from three-point range in 2002-03.

"Heather definitely has the ability to upgrade our perimeter shooting," Yori said. "She is hard-nosed, loves to play and can really shoot it."

Along with Kephart, Omaha native Andrea Lightfoot could boost the Husker backcourt. A first-team All-Nebraska honoree, the 5-8 guard from Marian High School brings a solid all-around game to her first college season.

"Andrea is competitive and played in a very good high school program," Yori said. "She is sound in every phase of the game, which could add some stability to our backcourt."

Kiera Hardy and Cortney Matthewis round out the guards competing for court time for the Huskers this season.

Hardy, a 5-6 point guard from Kansas City, Mo., committed to the Huskers out of high school before Yori joined the NU staff in late-June of 2002. Hardy enjoyed a solid senior season at O'Hara High School to earn first-team All-Missouri honors. A talented dribbler and passer, Hardy will work to improve her shooting touch and offensive skills as a freshman.

Matthewis, a 5-10 guard from Missouri City, Texas, was the last freshman to commit to NU's recruiting class, joining the Huskers in mid-April.

Matthewis may be the least experienced of the Husker guards, but her size and speed give her some assets to compete for playing time.

Nebraska added a final player to the roster in August with the addition of junior transfer LaToya Howell from Air Force. Howell, who averaged 17.4 points, 7.0 assists and 3.2 steals per game as one of the top players in the Western Athletic Conference last season, must sit out 2003-04 because of NCAA transfer rules.

Although she will not be eligible to play, Howell should provide increased competitiveness during practice throughout the season.

The Huskers will be hoping that the increased competitiveness in practice will help them prepare for a solid non-conference schedule and the brutal battles that will follow during the Big 12 season.

"I think we are naturally in a lot better position because of better depth and better experience," Yori said. "Our practices should be more competitive, so we expect to improve as a practicing team, which will hopefully carry over into games."

Nebraska's will to improve on the court will be tested by an 11-game non-conference schedule that includes matchups with 2003 NCAA Tournament qualifier Ohio State (Dec. 12) and WNIT semifinalist Creighton (Dec. 21). Both games will be at home in the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

"We are playing some quality teams who are coming off postseason play in 2003," Yori said. "We play teams from the Pac-10, Big Ten, SEC, Conference USA and the WAC. It will be a good challenge for us to prepare for the Big 12 schedule."

The conference schedule may be the toughest in the eight-year history of the league with 2003 NCAA Final Four participant Texas (Jan. 28), NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier Colorado (March 3) and NCAA Tournament qualifier Kansas State (Jan. 24) all coming to the Devaney Center.

Nebraska will also take to the road to face NCAA Elite Eight qualifier Texas Tech (Jan. 21), and NCAA squads Oklahoma (Jan. 7), Colorado (Feb. 4) and Kansas State (Feb. 14). Along with NCAA Tournament-caliber competition, NU will play a pair of games against 2003 WNIT quarterfinalist Missouri and a single game against WNIT runner-up Baylor on the road.

In all, the Huskers will play 12 regular-season games against teams that advanced to the postseason a year ago.

"We believe we could make a significant jump in terms of our quality of play this year, but several other teams in the league are capable of making the same kind of jump. We might be a lot better, but it is going to be hard to make a major leap in the league standings. If we can, it would be a big accomplishment. Realistically, this could be a year in the Big 12, where if you are in the top 10 in the league, you might play in the postseason."