Omaha, Neb. ? First-year Nebraska women’s basketball coach Connie Yori doesn’t pretend that her team’s Sunday meeting with Creighton will be just another game.

“I’ve definitely had the date Dec. 1 noted on my mental calendar,” Yori said.

“This might be one of the hardest days of my life.”

Yori’s wearing of the scarlet and cream of Nebraska would have been hard to imagine before last summer.

Her roots run deep at Creighton.

As a player, she averaged a record 20.3 points a game from 1982 to ’86. As the Bluejays’ head coach, she was 170-115 in 10 seasons.

Yori is in the school’s athletic hall of fame and remains the most identifiable figure in the 28-year history of the Creighton women’s program.

“Nebraska is starting to feel more like home,” Yori said. “But you can’t turn off the emotions with a flip of the switch, so that’s going to take some time.”

Leaving the Creighton players was the hardest part for Yori when she took the Nebraska job June 24.

As a career move, it was a no-brainer.

The Cornhuskers’ facilities and resources, and the challenge of competing in the Big 12, made the job attractive.

Attrition, however, has left Yori with only five scholarship players. Easy victories over Grambling State and Rice have the Huskers off to a 2-0 start.

But Yori said her team will be the underdog Sunday against a Bluejays squad that is 1-1 after losing to Michigan and beating Missouri-Kansas City.

The Jays returned 12 players from the team that won the Missouri Valley Conference and advanced to the NCAA tournament last year.

“It’s going to be different seeing Connie on the other bench,” said junior guard Christy Neneman. “It’s going to be emotional.”

Neneman and most of her teammates were recruited by Yori, and they took it hard when she left.

“I’m happy for her now,” Neneman said. “I think it’s a good step in her career.”