Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts DePaul Monday Night
12/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 13, 1999
NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. DePaul
Dec. 13, 1999 (7 p.m. Central)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.)
TV: None
RADIO: None
NORTHWESTERN (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten)
Northwestern has been idle since losing to Miami-Ohio on Dec. 4. The ?Cats met the RedHawks in the championship game of the Roger L. White Tournament and dropped a 75-62 decision. Prior to that the ?Cats defeated Princeton, 55-38, in the opening round of the tournament. Earlier in the same week, NU dropped a 67-32 decision to then-No. 12 Iowa State. Dana Leonard was the leading scorer for the ?Cats during the tournament with 19 points each night. Tami Sears was the leading rebounder, collecting seven against Princeton and eight versus Miami-Ohio. Leslie Schock led the team against the Cyclones with 13 points and six rebounds. The ?Cats enter tonight?s contest 2-3 overall.
DEPAUL (4-2, 0-0 Conference USA)
The 1999-2000 Blue Demons are off to a 4-2 after losing at Illinois on Friday. DePaul is led in scoring by sophomore Lenae Williams. A tremendous outside shooter, Williams is already fifth in school history with 85 three-point field goals and has hit at least one trey in 28 of her 32 games. Head coach Doug Bruno's squad has balance as eight players average more than five points per game.
THE SERIES
This marks the 16th meeting between the two teams. The Wildcats own the series advantage, 12-3. Northwestern defeated the Blue Demons 62-61 last season in a thriller.
NORTHWESTERN PROBABLE STARTERS
F - Leslie Schock, Sr., 6-0, 7.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg
F - Natalie Will, Fr., 5-9, 3.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg
C - Tami Sears, Jr., 6-2, 9.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg
G - Dana Leonard, Jr., 5-6,,12.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg
G - Emily Butler, Fr., 5-8, 5.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg
DePAUL PROBABLE STARTERS
F - Lenae Williams, So., 6-1, 17.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F - Sylvia Blakeslee, Jr., 6-0, 7.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C - Jeanene Novick, Sr., 6-3, 4.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg
G - Stacy Krumrei, Sr., 5-8, 5.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg
G - Candis Blankson, Jr., 5-9, 2.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg
HEAD COACH JUNE OLKOWSKI
June Olkowski is in her first season as head women?s basketball coach at Northwestern University. Olkowski replaces Don Perrelli, who retired after a 15-year run at the helm. The 1999-2000 campaign will be her 11th season as a collegiate head coach. Olkowski spent six impressive seasons as head coach at Butler University prior to arriving in Evanston. At Butler, Olkowski compiled a 114-56 (.671) record, as her teams averaged 19 wins a year. In 1996, her team won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) tournament title and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament. Her 1998 squad won the MCC regular season crown and advanced to the second round of the WNIT. Olkowski?s 1998-99 Butler team lost its best player to injury, but still posted a 17-11 record with notable wins over NCAA Tournament participants Illinois and Oregon. She is the winningest coach in Butler history and was named MCC Coach of the Year on three separate occasions. In 1982, Olkowski began her coaching career by spending three seasons as an assistant at the University of Maryland. During that span, the Terrapins twice advanced to the NCAA Tournament. From College Park, Olkowski traveled cross-country to become the head assistant coach at the University of Arizona (1985-87). Two years later, at the age of 27, she became the youngest head coach in NCAA history when she was elevated to the top spot of the Wildcat program. Following her four-year stint at Arizona (1987-1991), Olkowski served as an assistant coach at Auburn University for two seasons (1991-93). While she was with the Tigers, Auburn advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and was ranked No. 10 in the nation during the 1992-93 campaign.
THE LAST TIME OUT
With tournament MVP Heather Cusick draining 15 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, the Miami (Ohio) women?s basketball team defeated Northwestern, 75-62, in the championship game of the Roger L. White Invitational hosted by the Wildcats. The ?Cats were in control early, building a 24-11 lead midway through the first half thanks to the play of Dana Leonard and Tami Sears. Miami came back to tie it, using a 12-0 run to create a 29-29 deadlock. NU refused to give up the lead before the break, though, and took a 39-34 advantage into the locker room. The RedHawks spent nearly nine minutes trying to surpass the Wildcats, but it wasn?t until Aubree Hamilton dropped in a layup with 10:31 to play that they finally took their first lead of the game, 52-51. Northwestern answered with a jumper from Sara Jurek and a layup by Leonard, but Miami scored the next 12 points to take control. Cusick added seven rebounds and six assists to go with her 23 points, while Hollie Nelsen added 13 points and Hamilton had eight points and nine boards. Leonard (19 points) and Sears (12 points) were Northwestern?s selections to the all-tournament team, and led the ?Cats in scoring along with Leslie Schock (13 points).
IF YOU MISS, I WILL GRAB IT...
This seems to be Leslie Schock?s philosophy as she has pulled down 32 defensive boards in five games. The 6-0 forward is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game (6.4 defensive) and is second in the Big Ten.
AND NOW...
Coach Olkowski is looking for the right combination for the starting five. The ?Cats have changed the starters four times in five games as Olkowski searches for the right chemistry. Here is a look at each game?s starters.
vs. Northern Illinois - Sears, Butler, Dolland, Flores, Leonard 1-0
vs. UW-Milwaukee - Flores, Dolland, Sears, Leonard, Butler 0-1
vs. Iowa State, Princeton - Schock, Will, Sears, Leonard, Butler 1-1
vs. Miami (OH) - Schock, Dolland, Sears, Leonard, Butler 0-1
BACK IN THE GAME
Leslie Schock suffered a sprained ankle before the opening game against Northern Illinois and was unable to start. Schock had her first start in the ?Cats loss to Iowa State Tuesday night and was the high scorer with 13 points and the leading rebounder (6).
INJURY REPORT
Northwestern has been hit by the injury bug early in the season. Graduate forward Kristina Divjak is still out and her return to the Wildcat lineup is uncertain. Divjak, a 1998 Preseason All-American candiate, underwent season-ending surgery last Dec. 28 for a condition in her left knee known as lateral patella compression syndrome. Divjak is NU?s all-time free throw shooter by percentage (.833) and ranks seventh in career scoring (1,624). Joining Divjak on the injured list is junior forward Chala Holland who is out after patella debridgement surgery last June on her right knee, and has not fully recovered.
WELCOME THE NEW FACES
The 1999-2000 Northwestern women?s basketball team features four new faces. Nicole Daniels, Emily Butler, Natalie Will and Leslie Dolland join eight returning lettermen ? including four returning starters. Daniels, a 5-10 guard from White Plains, N.Y., averaged 20 points and seven rebounds per game last year at White Plains High School. Daniels set the White Plains High School career scoring record for both boys and girls when she went over the 1,036-point mark as a junior. Butler, a 5-8 guard from Greenwood, Ind. The three-time Street & Smith?s honorable mention All-American averaged 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Will, a 5-9 forward from Nappanee, Ind., helped lead her Northwood High School team to the Indiana 3-A title as a senior while averaging 18.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Dolland, a 6-2 center from Bloomington, Minn., averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals per game while helping the Blake School to consecutive state championship titles in 1998 and 1999.
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD FOR 'CATS
Northwestern will have a tough row to hoe this season as it takes on a rigorous schedule. The Wildcats will face three teams in the nonconference season that received bids to the NCAA Tournament last year. Boston College, Maine and Iowa State were all tourney teams with Iowa State advancing to the Elite Eight. Iowa State (12) and Boston College (25) are currently ranked in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 preseason polls. As for the conference schedule, four of the 11 teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 polls. Last year, Purdue won the national championship and three other teams advanced to postseason play. Wisconsin played in the championship game of the WNIT, while Illinois and Penn State both lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Illinois is currently ranked 10th in the AP Top 25 poll, while Penn State is currently ranked 14th, Purdue is 17th and Wisconsin is tied for 25th.
PILOT OF THE AIRWAVES
This season, 17 Wildcat games will be broadcast on WNUR (89.3) radio, each preceded by a pregame interview with Coach June Olkowski. The broadcast can also be heard on the Internet at www.nusports.com. Two of Northwestern?s games will be broadcast by Fox Sports Chicago this season. The Jan. 9 home contest with Iowa will be broadcast on Fox Sports Chicago at 4 p.m., and the Feb. 10 road trip to Illinois will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m.
WILDCATS SIGN ZYLSTRA
Northwestern women?s head basketball coach June Olkowski announced today the signing of 6-1 forward Michelle Zylstra (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) to a National Letter of Intent to play basketball beginning in the fall of 2000. ?Michelle will be a great addition to our team,? said Olkowski. ?She is an aggressive player whose offensive skills will help our program immediately.? Last season, Zylstra led Edison High in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. She also averaged 9.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 3.8 blocks per game. Zylstra was named All-CIF Division I and twice named first team all-state. In 1996, Zylstra helped her AAU team to the national championship.
NEXT UP
The ?Cats travel east to take on Maine and Boston College next week. The Wildcats will meet the Maine Black Bears on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 and Boston College on Sunday, Dec. 19 at 4 p.m.
