Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats to Hit the Road, Face Illinois
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
February 3, 1999
EVANTSON, Ill. - Northwestern plays at Illinois this Friday to kick off the six remaining regular season games left in February. The Wildcats (tied for eighth in the Big Ten with Iowa) will be looking to stay on the winning track after posting a 66-53 victory over Minnesota on the road last Sunday. The Wildcats will also be seeking to avenge an earlier season loss to the Fighting Illini, suffered at home on Jan. 10.
Illinois is tied with Ohio State for third place in the conference standings. It brings a 13-7 overall record, 7-3 Big Ten mark into Friday's contest, along with a three-game winning streak. During that streak, the Fighting Illini have knocked off Penn State (94-85), Michigan State (82-60) and Minnesota (88-69).
Northwestern Wildcats (9-11, 3-7)
at
Illinois Fighting Illini (13-7, 7-3)
February 5, 1999 (7 p.m.)
Assembly Hall (16,450)
WNUR (89.3 FM)
The Illinois Series
Northwestern owns a 30-10 record all-time against the Fighting
Illini, but Illinois has won the last three meetings (1997, 1998, 1999).
The series first began during the 1975-76 season. Illinois captured the
only meeting between the two teams last year, a 70-60 victory in Champaign.
The last time the Wildcats posted a victory in the series was Feb. 23,
1996, when they defeated Illinois, 75-68 in Evanston.
Today's Tips
NU's Last Game: Northwestern 66, Minnesota 53
Northwestern jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back in its
66-53 win over Minnesota last Sunday afternoon. The victory snapped a
three-game winless streak for the Wildcats and also avenged an earlier
season loss to the Gophers, a 70-68 setback suffered on Jan. 15 in
Evanston.
Northwestern got a game-high 17 points from senior guard Megan Chawansky. Junior forward Leslie Schock chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds, while sophomore forward Clarissa Flores tied her career-high with 14 points, 10 in the first half.
The 'Cats held all five Minnesota starters scoreless in the first half and the Gophers got their 17 points from players off the bench in the opening 20 minutes. NU led 34-17 at halftime.
For the game, Northwestern shot 44 percent from the field, while holding the Gophers to just 32.8 percent shooting. The Wildcats were careful with their possessions, committing only 13 turnovers, the fewest amount since the Dec. 1 win over Loyola-Chicago when they committed only 10.
The First Illinois Meeting (Jan. 10, 1999)
Up only three points (43-40) with 10:02 remaining in the contest,
the Illinois Fighting Illini went on a 17-3 run over the next five minutes
that propelled the visitors to a 74-55 victory over Northwestern.
Guard Melissa Parker scored 11 of her game-high 19 points for Illinois during the run. Center Alicia Sheeler also played a big part in the second half, scoring 12 of her 18 points and finishing with 11 rebounds.
Northwestern only led once during the game (4-2 with 17:49 to go in the first half). Junior forward Leah Berki had a team-high eight points as the Cats headed to the locker room with a 34-25 deficit.
For the game, the Wildcats had a tough time connecting on their shots, ending up 20-of-58 from the field. The Cats were also plagued by 21 turnovers.
Senior guard Megan Chawansky led NU in scoring with 15 points and became the eighth player in school history to surpass the 1,500-point plateau.
Sophomore center Tami Sears recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Time Announced for Purdue Game
Northwestern's final regular season home game against No. 2 Purdue
will tipoff at 4 p.m. on Sun., Feb. 21 in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The time of
the game was changed because it is going to be televised as Fox Sports
Chicago's Big Ten Game of the Week. It is FSC's last televised game before
the start of the conference tournament.
Head coach Don Perrelli will make his final appearance on the Welsh-Ryan Arena sideline, while the game will also feature a pre-game ceremony honoring Northwestern's three seniors (Chawansky, Giblin and McGarrigle).
Double-Doubles
Sophomore center Tami Sears owns a team-high five double-doubles
this season. She is tied for seventh among other Big Ten players in this
category. Her double-doubles have come against: DePaul (14 points, 11
rebounds), Stanford (11 points, 12 rebounds), California (14 points, 14
rebounds), Illinois (13 points, 14 rebounds) and Minnesota (21 points, 11
rebounds).
Junior forward Leslie Schock registered her second double-double of the season and fifth of her career against Ohio State when she tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds. Her first one of the season was a 25-point, 11-rebound effort in the Dec. 30 win over Indiana.
Senior guard Megan Chawansky, who has 10 double-doubles for her career, registered her first this season against Wisconsin with 17 points and 13 rebounds. She had another one two games later at Penn State with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Injury Report
Schock's Scoring
Junior forward Leslie Schock has reached double figures in scoring
in all but three of the games she's played in this season (16 of 19 games).
Prior to being held to nine points by Illinois on Jan. 10, Schock reached
double figures 10-straight times, the longest streak for any Wildcat this
season. Earlier this year, she recorded three-straight 20+ scoring
efforts. She scored 22 points and had nine rebounds at Cal. She tallied
25 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in the win over Indiana. She
then scored a career-high 26 points, while shooting 11-of-13 from the field
in the win over UW-Milwaukee.
Schock is NU's second-leading scorer and rebounder this year with 14.7 ppg and 6.6 rpg. She is second on the team with a .543 field goal percentage, having hit 120-of-221 shots from the floor.
All-Around Game
Senior guard Megan Chawansky is one of the most complete players to
ever put on a Northwestern uniform. With five more assists, she will
become the first player in NU history to record in her career: 1,600
points, 600 rebounds, 500 assists and 150 steals.
Moving Up the Career Scoring Chart
Chawansky became the seventh player in school history to reach the 1,600-point plateau. She accomplished the feat with 17 points in the win over Minnesota last Sunday. She now has 1,613 career points to her credit and needs just 12 more to surpass teammate Kristina Divjak at sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list.
Dishing Out Assists
Senior guard Megan Chawansky moved into fourth place on
Northwestern's all-time assist chart after she dished out seven assists at
Wisconsin. Chawansky surpassed Laura Wiesen (1983-86) and now has 495
career assists to her credit. Chawansky is looking to become the fourth
Wildcat to join the 500-assist club at NU and only the 11th player in Big
Ten history to do so.
Gettin' to the Line
At Stanford, Chawansky made eight free throws to move into second
place on the school's all-time free throws attempted chart. She surpassed
Michele Ratay ('97) and has gone to the line 609 times during her career.
This season, Chawansky has gone to the line more than any other Wildcat
(130 times). She averages 6.5 trips to the line a game.
New Face
The Wildcats had a new player join the team on Jan. 4. Freshman
Ashley Messenger, a 5-10 guard, hails from Scottsdale, Ariz., and is a
product of Sagurao High School. She averaged 22.4 ppg as a senior and was
twice named all-state in addition to being named Scottsdale's Player of the
Year last season. She has yet to play in a game for Northwestern.
"Take a Kid to the Game"
Northwestern is encouraging fans to "Take a Kid to the Game" for
this Sunday's women's basketball game versus No. 18 Penn State. All
students ages 18-and-under will be admitted for free! Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
Attendance Mark Broken
Northwestern set a Welsh-Ryan Arena women's basketball attendance
record against Ohio State as 3,779 fans turned out for "Pack the Place
1999." The Wildcats broke the old single- game attendance record of 3,665
set on Jan. 16, 1998 for the NU-Wisconsin game.
Head Coach Don Perrelli
Don Perrelli (Southern Connecticut State, 1961) is in his 15th
season at the helm of the Wildcats and 23rd as a collegiate head coach. He
is approaching his 250th career victory at Northwestern. His overall
record now stands at
423-247, while he owns a 248-176 record with the Wildcats. NU has advanced
to postseason play six times during Perrelli's tenure.
On Jan. 20, Perrelli announced his retirement effective at the end of this season.
NU Career Record Book Update
Senior co-captain Megan Chawansky ranks among the all-time
Northwestern leaders in nine categories. She recently moved into 10th on
the school's all-time steals chart.
Career Points Career Assists
5. Julie Calahan (1,648) 2. Moira Kennelly (546)
6. Kristina Divjak (1,624) 3. Amber DeWall (541)
7. M. Chawansky (1,613) 4. M. Chawansky (495)
8. Amy Prichard (1,533)
Career Three-Pointers Made Career Three-Point Att.
1. Michele Ratay (244)* 1. Michele Ratay (629)*
2. Kristina Divjak (218) 2. Kristina Divjak (533)
3. Moira Kennelly (173) 3. Moira Kennelly (454)
4. M. Chawansky (123) 4. M. Chawansky (351)
Career Free Throws Made Career Free Throw Att.
2. Michele Ratay (442) 1. Anucha Browne (719)
3. M. Chawansky (409) 2. M. Chawansky (609)
Katrina Hannaford (387)
4. Nancy Kennelly (385) Career Rebounding
9. Maureen Holohan (272) 7. Amy Prichard (653)
10. Kristina Divjak (264) 8. Katrina Hannaford (652)
9. M. Chawansky (635)
Career Steals
8. Connie Erickson (183) Games Played
9. Julia Egan (175) 4. Michele Ratay (120)
10. Kelly Cole (174) 5. Amy Prichard (118)
Megan Chawansky (174) 6. Nancy Kennelly (116)
7. Heather Ertel (114)
* Big Ten record 8. Megan Chawansky (113)
NU Signs Four to Letters of Intent
NU snagged one of the top 20 classes in the country, according to Joe Smith of the Women's Basketball News Service. Head coach Don Perrelli announced the signing of four high school seniors to play at Northwestern beginning in the fall of 1999:
Emily Butler (point guard, 5-8, Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove)
Nicole Daniels (guard/forward, 5-10, White Plains, N.Y./White Plains)
Leslie Dolland (center, 6-2, Bloomington, Minn./The Blake School)
Natalie Will (forward, 5-9, Nappanee, Ind./Northwood)
"It's a very, very good recruiting class for us," Perrelli enthused. "We hit all our areas of need. Butler is a very good point guard, Will is an excellent outside shooter, Daniels is a "3" player with athletic ability and Dolland is a strong "5" player in the post."
