No. 9 K-State Looks To Continue Winning Ways at Nebraska
Jan 22, 2004 | Women's Basketball
(#9/10) Kansas State (13-2, 4-0) vs. Nebraska (13-3, 3-2)
Game #16
January 24, 2004 - 1 p.m. (CT)
Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,500)
at Lincoln, Neb.
Television: Fox Sports Net
Radio: Mid America Sports Network (Steve Webster, play-by-play, Missy Decker Heidrick (color analyst)
Internet: Audio broadcast on www.k-statesports.com
Series History: K-State leads 35-25
The ninth-ranked Kansas State women’s basketball team (13-2, 4-0) returns to the road this week with a lone conference matchup at Nebraska (13-3, 3-2) on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. (CT) in Lincoln, Neb. The Wildcats are winners of four straight on the road, where they are beating opponents by an average margin of 22.8 points per game and holding opponents to 36 percent shooting from the field (76-214). The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net with Kevin Eschenfelder (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (color analyst) calling the action.
WILDCATS’ 11
The Wildcats are definitely in and not out of the hunt for a Big 12 Conference regular season title. Currently the only team in the league with an undefeated mark (4-0) in Big 12 play, K-State is riding an 11-game win streak and has not lost since a 69-56 loss to then No. 7-ranked Penn State at the Junkanoo Jam Tournament on Nov. 29 in the Grand Bahama Island.
ROAD WARRIORS
In four of their five road games played this season, the Wildcats have seen double-digit production in each of those games by Nicole Ohlde (16.0 ppg), Kendra Wecker (19.0 ppg) and Laurie Koehn (16.5 ppg). Ohlde and Wecker are shooting better than 50 percent from the field when playing on the road.
SCOUTING REPORT ON NEBRASKA
More than any school in the Big 12 Conference, Nebraska has made the biggest improvement after closing out the 2002-03 season with an 8-20 overall finish and going 1-15 through last year’s league slate. The Huskers carry a 3-2 league mark into Saturday’s contest and are one-of-four conference teams (K-State, Texas and Texas Tech) that remain undefeated at home (9-0). They look to extend that streak to 10 for the first time since the 1998-99 season, when the team racked up 11-straight home victories. The Wildcats will be the second top 25 opponent in the team’s current five-game stretch. Against top 25 opponents this season, the Huskers are 1-2 having beaten then No. 13-ranked Ohio State (60-55) on Dec. 12 and losing 68-55 to No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday night. Nebraska has one of the league’s best veteran lineups with seniors Margaret Richards (11.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Keasha Cannon-Johnson (11.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg) leading the Huskers on both ends of the court.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
No. Name 2003-04 Stats
42 Alexa Johnson (F, 6-1, Sr.) 10.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg
53 Katie Morse (C, 6-4, Sr.) 9.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg
20 Jina Johansen (G, 5-7, Jr.) 4.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg
22 Margaret Richards (G, 5-9, Sr.) 11.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg
44 Keasha Cannon-Johnson (G, 5-10, Sr.) 11.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg
SWAN SONG FOR DUTMER
Senior Amy Dutmer, a native of York, Neb., will be playing in her last collegiate game in her home state on Saturday vs. the Huskers. The last time the Wildcats played at Nebraska, Dutmer made only her 11th career start and scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds in 31 minutes of action on the court. During her high school career at York HS, she was named first team all-state as a senior and was a three-time first team all-area and all-conference selection. Dutmer is a career 73 percent shooter (8-11) vs. Nebraska.
NEBRASKA ROOTS
Kansas State Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator Laura Tietjen is a 1981 graduate of the University of Nebraska, where she was a four-year letterwinner in basketball (1977-80) and earned the 1980 Harmon Award as the Cornhuskers’ Most Outstanding Female Athlete. A native of Byron, Neb. (Byron HS), the former Husker guard finished her career with 493 career points, 217 career rebounds and 138 career assists. Tietjen is still tied for second all-time in free throws made in a single game (14) and holds the freshman single-season record for best free throw percentage (.861, 37-43).
SERIES HISTORY
K-State leads 35-25 in the all-time series vs. Nebraska, having won the last three out of four contests between both schools. However, in Big 12 play, the Huskers hold home court advantage in the series winning six of the seven league matchups in Lincoln. Last year, the Wildcats captured their first Big 12 road victory at Lincoln with an 88-54 win over the Huskers on Feb. 19, 2003. K-State has won the last two consecutive meetings.
ONE TOUGH TICKET
For the last two consecutive years, the K-State women have finished in the top 8 in Division I national attendance figures. The 2003-04 season is no different as the Wildcats currently rank seventh nationally with an average of 8,739 fans per game. K-State’s sellout game vs. KU on Jan. 17 marked the 16th largest crowd overall (13,340) in Division I women’s basketball this year.
School Average Attend.
1. Connecticut 14,252
2. Tennessee 12,850
3. Texas Tech 12,224
4. New Mexico 10,332
5. Purdue 9,524
6. Penn State 8,821
7. Kansas State 8,739
8. Minnesota 7,701
