Time is slipping away from the Colorado women's basketball team.

The Buffs begin the second half of the Big 12 season at 8 p.m. today (FSN) when they host Nebraska in need of wins. Lots of them.

At 13-8 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12, Colorado has eight games left in the regular season and needs to go 6-2 to get back to .500 for a good chance to make the NCAA tournament.

The Buffs must make a strong impression because their RPI ranges from 63 to 82 in four separate rankings, and that's not good enough. Teams that finish strong in their last 10 games usually impress the NCAA seeding committee.

Do the Buffs feel as if their backs are against the wall?

"Yeah, but we can't think of the future right now," said sophomore guard Bianca Smith, who is expected to make her second consecutive start tonight. "We have to take it game by game. We have to go in and try to get a win against Nebraska, and hopefully finish out the rest of the season (strong)."

But CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller worries that not everyone, especially the young players, realize the situation.

She sees senior Jackie McFarland playing with desperation on every possession, but she doesn’t see it in too many other players.

“It’s 100 percent because of youth and the amount of games they haven’t played,” McConnell-Miller said. “I wish it was Jan. 1 all over again. But the season’s not over.

“It’s just like at halftime being down 10. You can outscore them 11 in the second half and still win. That’s where we are right now. It’s halftime and we have to bounce back in the second half.”

The Buffs have struggled to get scoring from their guards during this slump, which has seen CU lose six of its last seven.

After being blown out by Texas Tech and Iowa State, CU bounced back against Oklahoma State on Saturday and looked improved in an 81-72 loss.

One reason for encouragement was that freshman Brittany Spears broke out of a two-game slump with 14 points against the Cowgirls.

Spears feels recharged after a mini break of two days off this past week.

“It’s different for me,” Spears said. “At Notre Dame (Prep last year) we practiced every day and had games, but we had weekends and Mondays off. Here we have one day off. Now that I’ve had a couple days off, I’m ready to go.”

The Buffs face a Nebraska team (16-6, 5-3) that features the second-best front-court tandem in the league behind Oklahoma’s Courtney and Ashley Paris. Nebraska’s Danielle Page and Kelsey Griffin provide strength, experience and a tough matchup for points and rebounds.

The Cornhuskers also feature guard Yvonne Turner, who is second in the league in steals at 2.8 per game.

“We haven’t seen too many teams where their strength was in the interior in this league, so far,” McConnell-Miller said. “Their experience is in the interior. Whether it’s favorable to us, we’ll see (tonight).”

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Tonight’s contest will be the 1,000th game in CU women’s basketball history. ... Freshman Britney Blythe was cleared to play against Nebraska. She missed the last two games due to a concussion. ... Sophomore Whitney Houston and freshman Courtney Dunn were suffering from the flu on Tuesday but are expected to be available today.