USC Women to Play Nebraska in Second Round

The USC women’s basketball program will make its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA playoffs today when it meets Nebraska at 3 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

The Trojans, runners-up in the Pacific 10 Conference behind defending national champion Stanford, are 21-6. Nebraska (22-7) finished second in both the Big Eight Conference race and tournament.

USC earned a first-round NCAA bye. Nebraska reached the second round by beating the University of San Diego, 81-58, in Lincoln, Neb., on Wednesday.

Today’s winner will advance to the four-team West Regional tournament Thursday and Saturday at Missoula, Mont.

The USC-Nebraska winner will play Texas Tech on Thursday. Texas Tech beat Washington, 70-64, on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers are led by two-time Big Eight player of the year Karen Jennings, Nebraska’s all-time scoring leader. The 6-foot-2 senior center has scored in double digits in 113 of her 118 Nebraska games.

She will be matched against USC’s 6-5 All-American junior, Lisa Leslie.

Said senior Trojan forward Joni Easterly: “We watched video on them and to me they seem like a mid-level Pac-10 team. We have to stop Jennings.”

The Trojans are seeded third in the West Region, behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Texas Tech. USC was ranked 15th in the last Associated Press poll, Nebraska 22nd.

USC Coach Marianne Stanley, who has maintained all season that her club is a potential Final Four team, would probably need a second victory over Stanford to get there at Atlanta on April 3-4. Her team split with Stanford in the Pac-10 race.

This is Nebraska’s first NCAA appearance since 1988, when the Cornhuskers lost to USC in a second-round game, 100-82.