It’s a delicate thing to try and balance. Connie Yori knows her Nebraska women’s basketball team is on a three-game losing streak entering Saturday's contest at Oklahoma State. And yet, probably the last thing the Huskers need while trying to regain the edge that led to their 21-4 start is a confidence-draining speech about how they’ve let things slip.

So what’s a coach to do?

“One of the best things about her this year is she’s let us know that we are 21-7 for a reason — because we have played good basketball,” senior guard Kiera Hardy said. “There’s still things we have to get back to, and do the little things, which she emphasizes a lot. But she has, towards the end, looked at the big picture and told us not to stress out, not to worry about it and that we’re going to be OK.”

Perhaps Yori has pointed out that despite her team’s recent struggles, regardless of what happens elsewhere around the league, if the Huskers beat Colorado in their regular-season finale Tuesday,  they will be the No. 4 seed at the league tournament. That’s important to note, since the top four seeds all earn first-round byes.

Yep, Tuesday’s game actually holds more drama than Saturday's. Then again, NU could wind up the No. 3 seed if it wins twice and Baylor loses to fellow first-place teams Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Also, if the Huskers win tonight and then lose to Colorado, a longshot scenario exists where fifth-place Iowa State could wind up with the No. 4 seed based on a tiebreaker.

Yori, of course, isn’t letting any of that consume her.

“We set some goals for ourselves early, and we talk about those goals all through the season. We are still on track of getting our goals,” she said. “Our destiny is really in our own hands — that’s really what it comes down to.”

Yori is keeping those goals to herself, but a big one likely is to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years.

And Nebraska would appear to be a lock for the tourney, since every previous Big 12 team that won 20 games overall and at least eight in the league during the regular season received a bid.

“We think we did a pretty good job early, but it’s how you finish,” Hardy said.

The Huskers’ opportunity to get started on that Saturday comes against one of the most improved teams in the league. Oklahoma State has 12 more wins than a year ago, and after going winless in the Big 12 last season, has a chance to go 4-4 in Kurt Budke’s second season as coach.

The Cowgirls are coming off Wednesday’s 64-52 win at Texas, its second victory against the Longhorns. Outside of those games, OSU went 0-8 against the rest of the Big 12 South. But the Cowgirls are 4-0 against the North, and are the only team to win at Iowa State, which beat Nebraska in Ames this week.

Meanwhile, Yori is 5-0 against Oklahoma State, including a 73-59 victory in Stillwater on Feb. 1, 2003 — NU’s only conference win that season — and a 73-71 victory on Feb. 1, 2005, that came thanks to a last-second shot by Hardy.

“We’ve got to knock down some shots and be ready — and just try to step our game up to the next level,” Hardy said. “We haven’t been in this position, so we’ve got to be even more hungry.”

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.