NU Notes: Highlight Hustle Plays Set Tone For Williams' Huskers

Amy Williams labels them "multiple-effort" plays. Her Nebraska women's basketball players sometime refer to them as doing "the little things."
 
No matter your definition, these Huskers are learning about an important element to winning and reaching their full potential.
 
The last two games have been proof.
 
In Sunday's 72-58 victory over No. 24 Minnesota, guard Nicea Eliely provided the game's top highlight when she came seemingly of out of nowhere to chase down the Gophers' Jasmine Powell, who probably thought she had an easy path for a transition layup off a turnover. Instead, Eliely skied and swatted Powell's shot out of bounds.
 
Thursday night against Wisconsin, the Huskers were in the middle of a 14-0 run late in the third quarter and had a double-digit lead when sophomore guard Sam Haiby hustled past Wisconsin's Kendra Van Leeuwen for a loose ball into the backcourt. Haiby could've let the ball go out of bounds, but instead corralled it, controlled herself to stay in bounds and spun around Van Leeuwen en route to a layup off the Wisconsin turnover.
 
"When you're on the court," Haiby said, "you just go with the flow and keep playing yard."
 
It's not like the Huskers haven't been playing hard all season. After all, you don't own a 13-2 record by going through the motions. But the "multiple-effort" plays can spell the difference between a good team and a great team.
 
"I think something just clicked in us that if we want to win and we want to reach our potential as a team, then we're going to have to do that and the little things," sophomore forward Leigha Brown said.
 
"I think the last couple of games have definitely been a lot better. I think that toward the beginning of the season and in the middle, we had trouble kind of finishing plays, getting those 50-50 balls. So I think these past couple of games, we've done that, and I think that's been pretty obviously the difference maker."
 
Perhaps it's no coincidence the increase in hustle plays has come after a bitter overtime defeat at Michigan State, a game the Spartans dominated after tying the game in the final seconds of regulation with two free throws.
 
"Those mistakes in that particular game, it didn't feel good sitting in the locker room at Michigan State, to lose that game in overtime," Williams said. "I'm glad that's something that springed them to say, 'Let's not let that happen again. Let's not have that feeling again.'
 
"I'm glad they've kind of kicked it in."


 
Nebraska's 13-2 record is its best start in Williams' four seasons, as the Huskers are already only victory away from matching last season's win total.
 
"I think this season we kind of have something to prove after the season we had last year," Haiby said. "It was disappointing to all of us, so I think we're coming out this year trying to accomplish some things we know we can get done.
 
"Coming off that Michigan State game, just trying to bounce back, which we did against Minnesota. We played a great 40 minutes of basketball and again here today. We're just trying to keep that rolling."
 
Generally speaking, this year's roster looks a lot like last year's roster, only deeper, and with players who are more experienced and more confident. It's balanced, too, with eight players averaging between 14 and 8 points per game.
 
"We've got so many weapons on our team," said Brown, who scored a team-high 15 points off the bench against Wisconsin. "Anyone can go off at any given time, so when you've got those weapons and they're hitting shots consistently, we're a really hard team to guard."
 
When Williams first saw the Big Ten Conference schedule, with three of Nebraska's first four games at home, she knew the importance of defending home court and building confidence.
 
Indeed, the Huskers won home games against Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and carry a 3-1 record into a challenging week ahead. Nebraska plays at Rutgers on Sunday, then after returning home to begin second semester classes on Monday, the Huskers will fly back to the east coast for a Thursday game at Maryland.
 
Nebraska is in a four-way tie for second place in a conference that only two weeks into league competition has only one unbeaten team, Indiana.
 
"Crazy. Incredibly competitive, every single night out," Williams said of the Big Ten. "And I think it's just going to continue to be that way. I think it's going to be very, very competitive throughout, top to bottom."


 
Scholarship For Easley
 
Charlie Easley ended his career at Lincoln Pius X High School feeling he did everything he possibly could do to earn Division I scholarship offers. Yet he had only one, and didn't feel he was a good fit with The Citadel.
 
So he bypassed scholarship opportunities at smaller schools to join Nebraska, his hometown team, his favorite team growing up, as a walk-on.
 
"I've grown up loving the Huskers. I thought I could help them out and eventually see myself playing," Easley said in mid-December. "I want to prove … I obviously want to get a scholarship. That's one thing. Walking on, I never was going to be a walk-on. That was never in the plan."
 
Easley had no idea that only a month later, he'd reach his goal. On Friday, before Nebraska hit the road for a Saturday game at Northwestern, coach Fred Hoiberg told Easley he'd be on scholarship for the spring semester.
 
"It's a great feeling," Easley said. "A lot of hard work went into it. Thanks to coaches and teammates and everybody who helped me. It's just the start. Got to keep working."
 
Easley has seen increasing playing time since the start of conference play. His 16 minutes against Iowa were a career high, topping the 10 minutes he played against Purdue. In both games, Easley came off the bench and affected the game by taking charges, hustling for loose balls, grabbing key rebounds and playing solid defense.
 
"Everybody roots for Charlie," Hoiberg said. "He's just one of those guys that comes to work every day. He shows up an hour before practice, shooting in a dark gym before anybody else shows up. It's easy to root for a guy like that who puts in the time."
 
Easley said he never planned on playing much as a true freshman, but wanted to work hard and get better and improve as much as he could.
 
"I did that," he said, "and the rest took care of itself."
 
Nebraska (7-8, 2-2 Big Ten) plays Northwestern (5-9, 0-4) in search of its first true road victory this season. The Wildcats have lost five straight games.
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.