Coach Connie Yori continues to lead an exciting phase of sustained growth in the Nebraska women's basketball program through her first seven years in Lincoln.

Yori led the Huskers to their school-record sixth consecutive postseason tournament berth in 2008-09. Nebraska advanced to the second round of the 2009 Postseason WNIT despite suffering the loss of two-time first-team All-Big 12 forward Kelsey Griffin to an ankle injury before the season began.

The Huskers were dealt a further blow inside with the loss of junior center Nikki Bober, just days after helping the Huskers to a win over No. 24 Arizona State at the Devaney Center on Dec. 28. The Sun Devils went on to advance to the 2009 NCAA Elite Eight. In addition to the losses of Griffin and Bober inside, the Huskers played the entire season without freshman shooting guard Layne Reeves, who was rehabilitating from a knee injury suffered during her senior season of high school.

Despite the early setbacks, Yori helped the Huskers adjust to new roles while developing new young leaders on the court. Her guidance helped Nebraska become one of the hottest teams down the stretch in Big 12 Conference play. In fact, Nebraska went 5-2 in its last seven regular-season Big 12 games and finished as one of just five league schools to close the second half of conference play with a winning record. NU joined NCAA Final Four qualifier Oklahoma, NCAA Elite Eight participant Iowa State, NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier Texas A&M and Big 12 Tournament champion Baylor as the five schools to notch winning records in the league over the last eight regular-season games.

The Huskers, who finished the year with a 15-16 overall record and a 6-10 Big 12 mark, tied for seventh in the nation's strongest conference. The Big 12 sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament and three more to the WNIT. Amazingly, Nebraska's seventh-place regular-season league finish was one spot higher in the standings than NU's projected finish by the conference coaches before the season, when those coaches thought Griffin would play.

Nebraska's season was not only highlighted by top-25 victories over Arizona State and Kansas State, the Huskers also played one of the nation's toughest schedules. The Huskers played 19 games against 2009 postseason tournament qualifiers, including Big Ten champion and NCAA Sweet 16 participant Ohio State, along with road games at perennial powers LSU and New Mexico during the non-conference season.

Nebraska's success came despite featuring the most inexperienced starting lineup in the Big 12. The conference was one of the most veteran leagues in 2008-09 with 24 senior starters across the league, including 14 four-year starters. Nebraska's regular lineup was the only one that did not feature a senior throughout the season, as NU's lone active senior, Tay Hester, started just 18 of the Huskers' 31 games.

In Griffin's absence, Cory Montgomery emerged as a rising star in the Big 12, ranking among the top 10 in the league in scoring and rebounding. In her first season as a starter, Montgomery earned honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors by averaging 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Yvonne Turner also increased her production on the offensive end, averaging 11.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest while again leading the Huskers in three-point shooting and steals. Turner's explosiveness on the defensive end earned her a second straight spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

In 2007-08, Yori guided Nebraska to one of its best seasons, as the Huskers claimed their third NCAA Tournament victory in history with a 61-58 win over Xavier in College Park, Md.

Along with leading Nebraska to its first NCAA Tournament win in a decade, Yori helped the Huskers to their first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances since the 1999 and 2000 seasons, while posting back-to-back 20-win campaigns for the first time since 1998 and 1999.

In 2007-08, Yori's Huskers finished with a 21-12 record despite a 13-player roster that featured five true freshmen, five sophomores and one junior college transfer. Griffin, an All-Big 12 forward, was the only Husker to ever start a game in an NU uniform heading into the 2007-08 campaign.

Along with their youth, the Huskers faced the challenge of the best schedule in school history. NU played 24 of its 33 games against 2008 postseason tournament teams, including 16 games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, Nebraska's strength of schedule ranked No. 24 nationally heading into postseason play.

Despite Nebraska's youth and imposing schedule, the Huskers finished with a 9-7 Big 12 mark in a league that sent 11 teams to the postseason, including eight teams that won first-round games in the NCAA Tournament. Along the way, Nebraska became one of only three Big 12 schools - joining Baylor and Oklahoma - to post four straight .500 or better league seasons.

Yori's Huskers have established themselves as a force in the Big 12 North, posting a 26-14 record against North foes over the past four regular seasons - the best mark among the six North Division teams during that stretch. Iowa State is 25-15 during that same stretch, while Kansas State is 24-16.

Yori's success at Nebraska has come as a result of her commitment to helping student-athletes have outstanding all-around collegiate experiences on the court, in the classroom and in the community. Yori's approach involves helping create an atmosphere of terrific team chemistry with players and coaches who genuinely care about each other.

"We believe that the success level of our team has improved because we have focused on bringing in the highest quality of student-athlete. Obviously, we want talented basketball players with great skill levels and knowledge of the game, but we also want great students who want to become great people after their careers are over."

Not only did Nebraska gain recognition in 2007-08 for its back-to-back 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances, the Huskers also distinguished themselves as one of only 12 schools in the 64-team tournament field to produce a perfect 100 percent graduation rate.

Three Huskers distinguished themselves by earning All-Big 12 honors on the court, including two-time first-team all-conference pick Griffin, All-Big 12 Defensive Team member Turner and honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick Danielle Page. Four more Huskers, including Griffin, Page, Montgomery and Kala Kuhlmann captured first-team academic all-league accolades in 2007-08.

The Huskers also continued to demonstrate unsurpassed community involvement. Since the inception of Nebraska's Life Skills Team Award presented to the school's most committed team in the area of outreach, Yori's team has finished among the top programs all six years while winning the Life Skills Team Award on two occasions.

While Nebraska has continued to achieve growing success in each of Yori's seven seasons, she believes the best is yet to come for the Huskers.

"We believe we are still in the growth stage in our program. That is part of what makes it exciting and fun to come to work every day. We have improved, but we are really focused on getting better every single day."

Nebraska's ascension on the Big 12 and national levels has been remarkable considering Yori's starting point.

Yori set out to establish a winning tradition at Nebraska after she was hired on June 24, 2002.

When she arrived in 2002, the Huskers were coming off back-to-back losing seasons and the program was left with just five scholarship players for most of the season.

But Yori was also confident that Nebraska's resources, coupled with her coaching knowledge and ability to develop strong personal relationships with players, would lead NU to future success.

Yori's 2002-03 club struggled to an 8-20 record, but her first recruiting class made an immediate impact in her second season.

The 2003-04 squad featured four returning senior starters and made one of the largest improvements in NCAA Division I basketball by finishing with an 18-12 record, despite playing 19 games against 2004 postseason clubs.

Along with a win over No. 13 Ohio State, the Huskers notched one of the biggest wins in school history with an 81-63 victory over No. 9 Kansas State on Jan. 24. The win came in front of a national television audience on Fox Sports Net and marked the highest-ranked team the Huskers had ever defeated at the Devaney Center. NU added a 7-9 Big 12 mark and may have finished just one win shy of the school's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2000. NU finished in a three-way tie for seventh in a league that sent nine teams to the postseason, including the Huskers.

Nebraska made a trip to the 2004 Postseason WNIT and played two home games in the tournament. NU's 73-60 first-round win over Drake was its first postseason victory since 1998 and the first home postseason win since 1993.

Along with amazing improvement on the court, the Huskers made major strides in the classroom and community.

The Huskers made history in 2003-04 by becoming the athletic department's first winner of the Life Skills Award of Excellence. The award was presented to the team that showed the greatest overall commitment to Nebraska's community outreach program, an impressive accomplishment considering Nebraska's overall Life Skills program has been named the best in the nation.

Although NU had to replace four senior starters in 2003-04, the 2004-05 squad continued the program's climb.

Nebraska grabbed national headlines and made school history on Jan. 12, 2005, by knocking off then-No. 2 Baylor, 103-99 in triple overtime at the Devaney Center. Not only did the Huskers outlast the eventual national champion Bears in the longest game in Big 12 history, they also posted a win over the highest-ranked team in school history.

The Huskers finished with an 8-8 Big 12 record for the first time since 1999-2000 and claimed a sixth-place finish in one of the nation's toughest leagues. NU's sixth-place showing was its first top-six league finish since 1999-2000, and helped the Huskers advance to the postseason for the second straight year with a trip to the 2005 Postseason WNIT.

Nebraska finished 2004-05 with an 18-14 record despite playing 11 games against top 25 foes. Along with the win over No. 2 Baylor, NU defeated No. 14 Iowa State 88-59 on Feb. 12 in Lincoln, to give NU its largest victory margin in history over a top-25 opponent.

Yori's 2004-05 squad was composed of seven newcomers on a 12-player roster. The newcomers were guided by senior point guard Jina Johansen and were sparked by the emergence of Kiera Hardy, who became the third sophomore in school history to earn first-team all-conference honors. She also became just the third Husker since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97 to claim first-team All-Big 12 accolades.

Hardy's rise along with the addition of 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jelena Spiric and the leadership of Chelsea Aubry gave NU high hopes for 2005-06. Those hopes were tempered the first week of fall practice by the loss of Spiric to a season-ending knee injury.

Despite the setback, NU ran to a 19-13 overall record, including an 8-8 Big 12 mark, while advancing to the Postseason WNIT for the third straight year.

The Huskers closed the season as one of the Big 12's hottest teams, winning seven of their last 10 games including a trip to the WNIT quarterfinals, despite a late-season illness to freshman phenom Kelsey Griffin.

The Huskers' strong finish came while establishing a measure of dominance against Big 12 North competition. Nebraska went 5-0 in rematches with North Division opponents in 2005-06, and finished the year with a 7-3 mark against North schools, before adding another victory against Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Huskers defeated Colorado three times in the same season for the first time in school history after recording their first regular-season sweep of the Buffaloes in 21 years. NU also ended a 20-year losing streak at Boulder.

Nebraska's rise to the upper echelon in the powerful Big 12 continued in 2006-07. The Huskers finished with a 22-10 overall record that included a 10-6 league mark. NU earned a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament by finishing in a tie for fourth in the league standings.

Hardy led the Huskers in 2006-07 by capturing her third straight first-team All-Big 12 award before being selected in the third round of the WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun. A Kodak Region 5 All-American, Hardy became the second Husker in history to be drafted by the WNBA. She also earned her bachelor's degree from Nebraska the day before hitting the game-winning shot in her professional exhibition debut.

Griffin joined Hardy in capturing first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2006-07, becoming the fourth Husker to earn first-team all-league honors as a sophomore. Griffin was a first-team academic All-Big 12 pick and a member of the Big 12 Winter Good Works Team, making her a shining example of Nebraska's concept of total person development.

Aubry, a captain and member of the Canadian Senior National Team, added honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors as a senior. She also earned academic All-Big 12 honors and served on Nebraska's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee with Griffin.

Nebraska's success against North Division opponents continued in 2006-07, as the Huskers posted an 8-2 mark against North foes - the best record of any North team.

Nebraska's rise has followed continued recruiting success. Yori's first group of recruits included Hardy and Aubry. Yori's second group included 2008 senior Danielle Page, who spent the 2008 WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun.

Yori's third class included two-time first-team All-Big 12 pick Kelsey Griffin, who enters her senior season ranked 11th in NU history with 1,348 points, seventh with 665 rebounds and ninth with 68 career blocked shots.

Yori's fourth class was her largest and most accomplished, including WBCA All-American and Miss Nebraska Basketball Yvonne Turner, All-Arizona guard Nicole Neals, All-Minnesota forward Cory Montgomery, Iowa Female Athlete of the Year Kala Kuhlmann and All-Nebraska center Nikki Bober.

NU's fifth group included 2007 Miss Nebraska Basketball Dominique Kelley, who set a Husker record by starting all 33 games as a freshman in 2007-08, Canadian National Program member Kaitlyn Burke, California State Junior College Tournament MVP Tay Hester, French National Team member Jessica Periago, and Texas all-staters Catheryn Redmon and Monique Whittaker.

The Huskers' sixth class featured Canadian National program member Harleen Sidhu and Texan Layne Reeves, while NU's seventh class includes ESPN Top 100 point guard and state of Washington Gatorade Player of the Year Lindsey Moore, along with California high school standout Meghin Williams and Minnesota star Katya Leick.

Yori came to Nebraska after 10 successful years at Creighton, where she closed her career as the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading CU to MVC regular-season and tournament titles and a 2002 NCAA Tournament bid. Along with the MVC title and a trip to the 2002 NCAA Tournament, the Bluejays posted a 24-7 record and a 16-2 MVC mark. CU also set school and league records with 249 three-pointers to rank fifth nationally with 8.0 per game.

The 47-year-old native of Ankeny, Iowa, produced a 170-115 (.596) mark in 10 seasons at Creighton. Overall, Yori spent 17 seasons at Creighton, including four as a guard (1982-83 through 1985-86) and three as an assistant coach (1986-87 through 1988-89) under Bruce Rasmussen.

Between stints as an assistant coach and head coach at Creighton, Yori spent one year (1989-90) as the head softball coach at St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla., where she earned her master’s degree in sports administration.Yori then spent two seasons as head coach at NCAA Division III Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, (1990-91 and 1991-92).

After two years at Loras College, she returned to Creighton to take the reins from her mentor, Rasmussen, who accepted an associate athletic director position at CU in 1992, and has since become athletic director.

In her first season as Creighton’s head coach in 1992-93, Yori led the Bluejays to a 20-8 record, a 12-4 conference mark and the school’s second trip to the NCAA Tournament. CU earned a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region and defeated No. 7-seed Bowling Green (84-73) before losing to defending national champion Texas Tech (75-65) in the second round.

In her second season (1993-94), Yori’s Bluejays raced to a 24-7 record and a 14-2 MVC mark. Her 2001-02 Creighton squad matched that mark, while setting a school record with 16 conference victories.

Yori graduated from Creighton with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1986. As a player for the Bluejays, Yori ranks third on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,010 points. A 1992 inductee into the Creighton University Athletic Hall of Fame, Yori owns the school record for career scoring average (20.3 ppg). She also owns school game records for points (42) and field goals made (20). She ranks second in career field goals made (797) and free throws made (416), fourth in rebounds (746), fifth in field goal percentage (.542) and assists (399) and seventh in blocked shots (69). Her No. 25 jersey was also retired by Creighton.

A 1982 graduate of Ankeny High School, Yori is a two-time inductee into the Iowa Girl’s High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame as a basketball and softball player. She led the Hawkettes to a state title in 1980 and a runner-up finish in 1981, scoring 3,068 points in her six-on-six prep career. A four-time first-team all-state shortstop, Yori also helped Ankeny to state softball titles in 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Yori is married to Kirk Helms and the couple has a son, Lukas, born in July of 2004. Yori has been active in the community as a volunteer, including serving as the honorary chairperson of the 2006 Race for the Cure.