Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Ready to Host Roger L. White Invitational
12/3/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 1999
THE ROGER L. WHITE INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Princeton
Dec. 3, 1999 at 7 p.m.
Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.)
Television: None
Radio: WNUR
TONIGHT'S GAME
Northwestern hosts Princeton tonight in the first round of the annual Roger L. White Invitational. The tournament tips off at 5 p.m. when the University of New Hampshire and Miami (Ohio) square off, followed by the Wildcats and the Tigers. On Saturday, the consolation game will take place at 5 p.m., followed by the championship game at 7 p.m.
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten)
Northwestern looks to rebound tonight from a, 67-32 loss to 12th-ranked Iowa State Tuesday night in their first road game of the season. Tami Sears leads the ?Cats in scoring with 34 points in three games, averaging 11.3. Dana Leonard is averaging 10.0 points per game. Senior forward Leslie Schock is the team?s leading rebounder, grabbing 7.7 boards per game.
ABOUT PRINCETON (2-4, 0-0 Ivy League)
Princeton defeated Lafayette Wednesday night, 73-58 at home. The Tigers are the defending Ivy League co-champions and return leading scorers Maggie Langles and Kate Thirolf. Langles currently leads the team, averaging 11.5 points per game while Thirolf is averaging 10.5 per game. In addition to Thirolf?s prowess on the offense, she?s leading the Tigers under the basket averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.
THE SERIES: Tonight?s meeting is the first ever between Northwestern and Princeton.
NU PROBABLE STARTERS
F Leslie Schock, 6-0 Sr., 8.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg
F Natalie Will, 5-9 Fr., 4.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg
C Tami Sears, 6-2 Jr., 11.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg
G Dana Leonard, 5-6 Jr., 10.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G Emily Butler, 5-8 Fr., 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
PRINCETON PROBABLE STARTERS
F Lauren Rigney, 5-10 So., 3.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg
F Kate Thirolf, 5-10 Sr., 10.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C Brooke Lockwood, 6-2 Sr., 6.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
G Jessica Munson, 5-8 Jr., 8.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G Maggie Langlas, 5-10 Sr., 11.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg
HEAD COACH JUNE OLKOWSKI
June Olkowski is in her first season as head women?s basketball coach at Northwestern University. She replaced 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 ? Wildcats Fall to No. 12 Cyclones
Northwestern trailed the Cyclones by only nine at the half, but struggled in the second half ? unable to halt the Cylclone offense. The Cyclone defense stymied the ?Cats in the second half, holding them to 15 points after intermission. Senior Leslie Schock scored all of her team-high 13 points in the first half and added six rebounds.
NORTHWESTERN vs. THE IVY LEAGUE
The Wildcats are 4-1 versus the Ivy League. Northwestern?s first contest against an Ivy League school came during the inaguaral 1975-76 season against Brown. The ?Cats fell to the Bears. The last time Northwestern played an Ivy school was Penn during the 1995-96 season. NU defeated the Quakers, 84-44.
IF YOU MISS, I WILL GRAB IT
This seems to be Leslie Schock?s philosophy as she has pulled down 22 defensive boards in three games. The 6-0 forward is averaging 7.33 rebounds per game and leads the Big Ten.
INJURY UPDATE
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, the 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 petella debridement surgery last June on her right knee, and has not fully recovered.
WILDCATS WELCOME FOUR NEWCOMERS
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 WILDCATS
Northwestern will have a tough road to hoe this season as it takes on a rigorous schedule. The Wildcats will face three teams in the non-conference 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 (24) 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 10 in the AP Top 25 poll while Penn State is currently ranked 14th, Purdue is 17th and Wisconsin is tied for 25th.
NORTHWESTERN OVER THE AIRWAVES
This season, 17 Wildcat games will be broadcast on WNUR (89.3) radio, each preceded by a pre-game 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 MICHELLE 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
After this weekend's tournament, the ?Cats are off until Dec. 13 when they take on DePaul at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
