Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Chicago Challengers (exhib.)
Women's Basketball Downs Chicago Challengers in Exhibition
11/2/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 2, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - With Dana Leonard scoring 20 points and Tami Sears nearly collecting a double-double, the Northwestern women's basketball team recorded a 68-61 victory over the Chicago Challengers in an exhibition game Tuesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats will also be in exhibition action this Sunday, hosting the Hungarian national team at 2 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan.
Northwestern never trailed in this contest, turning a 2-2 tie into a 14-7 advantage early with a balanced attack. Sears, who ended the night with 11 points and nine rebounds, then sparked another run that put the Wildcats up 24-13 with eight minutes left in the first half.
The lead hovered around the 10-point mark for most of the first stanza after that, and a 3-0 run in the final two minutes put the score at 38-24 at the break. Leonard then came out and dropped one of her four 3-pointers to start the second frame, putting the 'Cats up 41-24.
The Challengers ? featuring a number of former Division 1 players from the Big Ten and the Chicagoland area ? fought back into the contest, though. A 12-0 run over a four-minute span made the score 41-36, before Nicole Daniels dropped in a jumper to stop the bleeding.
Northwestern got the score back up to 10, at 59-49, but again the Challengers came back. With former Illinois star Ashley Bergger and Kina Brown leading the way, the Challengers went on a 10-1 run that made the score 60-59 with exactly three minutes to play.
Leonard had the answer, though, draining a trey with 2:50 to play and then responding to a jumper by Kris Booker by hitting five of six free throws in the final 16 seconds.
Leslie Schock had nine points and five rebounds for the Wildcats, while Leslie Dolland added six points and eight boards. The Challengers were led by Brown, who had 18 points, while Berggre added 13 points and seven assists and Maureen Holohan had 10 points.
