Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Takes on No. 21 Nittany Lions
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
January 26, 1999
Northwestern Wildcats (8-10, 2-6)
at
#21 Penn State Nittany Lions (13-5, 5-3)
Northwestern travels to Penn State for the first of three upcoming road games. The Wildcats will be looking for their second win of the season over a nationally-ranked opponent. The first national upset came just three games ago (a 48-41 triumph over then No. 17-ranked Ohio State). Following its contest with Penn State, NU will be seeking revenge at Minnesota (Jan. 31) and at Illinois (Feb. 5).
The Wildcats are coming off Sunday's 64-54 loss to Michigan, while Penn State enters the contest following a 95-48 victory over Indiana. The Wildcats, now ninth in the Big Ten, are 8-10 overall, 2-6 in the conference. The Nittany Lions are 13-5 overall and ranked fourth in the Big Ten with a 5-3 conference mark.
The Penn State Series
Penn State owns a 10-4 advantage over Northwestern in a series that
began during the 1979-80 season. The Nittany Lions captured the only
regular season matchup between the two teams last year, 77-70, in Evanston.
Penn State then knocked the Wildcats out of the Big Ten Postseason
Tournament, 97-67, on Feb. 27, 1998. The last time NU visited University
Park was Jan. 31, 1997. The Wildcats won that meeting, 68-65.
Today's Tips
Not until his ninth season at Northwestern, did head coach Don
Perrelli's teams face Penn State. Since then, Perrelli has gone 3-9
against the Nittany Lions.
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 483 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.
NU's Last Game: Michigan 64, Northwestern 54
Michigan junior forward Stacey Thomas had 15 points, 10 rebounds,
six steals, six assists and four blocks to lead the Wolverines to a 64-54
victory over Northwestern in Big Ten women's basketball action.
Michigan shot 68 percent (17-for-25) in the first half, but only held a 37-36 lead heading into the break. NU sophomore forward Clarissa Flores led all scorers at halftime with 12 points.
The game was tight for most of the second half, but Michigan made its move around the 10-minute mark. With four points by Raina Goodlow, a layup by Anne Thorius and a Thomas jumper, the Wolverines went up by an eight point margin (55-47), their largest of the game. The Wildcats got within three (57-54), but were held scoreless for the final four minutes.
Michigan was also able to limit Northwestern to only five field goals in the second half.
Flores and senior guard Megan Chawansky led NU in scoring with 12 points apiece. Junior forward Leslie Schock finished with 10 points.
Double-Doubles
Sophomore center Tami Sears owns a team-high five double-doubles
this season. She is tied for sixth 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 against Ohio State with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Her first one was a 25-point, 11-rebound effort in the Dec. 30 win over Indiana. Senior guard Megan Chawansky registered her first double-double of the season against Wisconsin with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
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 (14 of 17 games).
Prior to being held to nine points by Illinois, 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 14.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg. She leads the team with a .546 field goal percentage, having hit 106-of-194 shots from the floor.
Moving Up the Career Scoring Chart
With 10 points against Minnesota, senior guard Megan Chawansky
moved into seventh place on the school's career scoring chart. She
surpassed Amy Prichard, who now does women's basketball color commentary
for the Big Ten on Fox Sports Chicago. Prichard tallied 1,533 points
during her four-year career with the Wildcats (1982-85).
Chawansky now has 1,572 career points to her credit.
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 595 times during her career.
This season, Chawansky has gone to the line more than any other Wildcat
(116 times). She averages over six trips to the line a game.
Injury Report
Preseason All-American Kristina Divjak will miss the remainder of
the 1998-99 season. She underwent surgery
Dec. 28 for a condition in her left knee known as lateral
patella compression syndrome. According to team athletic trainer Jackie
Wise, the surgery was a success and Divjak is progressing quite well in the
early stages of a lengthy rehabilitation process. Divjak is eligible to
return as a fifth-year senior. The 6-0 senior forward and co-captain
played in four games this season, averaging 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds
per game before being sidelined. She tallied a season-high 27 points in a
loss to then No. 22-ranked UC-Santa Barbara on Nov. 18.
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.
"Take a Kid to the Game"
Northwestern is encouraging fans to "Take a Kid to the Game" for
the Sun., Feb. 7 women's basketball game versus nationally-ranked Penn
State. All students ages 18-and- under will be admitted for free! Tipoff
is at 2 p.m.
NU Career Record Book Update
Senior co-captain Megan Chawansky ranks among the all-time
Northwestern leaders in several categories. She recently moved into 10th
on the school's all-time rebounding chart when she grabbed nine caroms
against UW-Milwaukee. With 172 career steals, she is three thefts shy of
breaking into the top 10 in that category as well.
Against Minnesota, Chawansky moved into seventh place on the school's all-time scoring list.
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 (1,572) 4. M. Chawansky (483) 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 (121) 4. M. Chawansky (342)
Career Free Throws Made Career Free Throw Att.
2. Michele Ratay (442) 1. Anucha Browne (719)
3. M. Chawansky (396) 2. M. Chawansky (595)
Katrina Hannaford (387)
4. Nancy Kennelly (385)
9. Maureen Holohan (272)
10. Kristina Divjak (264)
Career Rebounding
8. Katrina Hannaford (652)
9. Nancy Kennelly (629)
10. M. Chawansky (618)
* Big Ten record
In the Big Ten (stats as of Jan. 25)
Megan Chawansky is ranked sixth among the Big Ten scoring leaders
with 15.8 points per game. She is second in assists (5.61 apg) behind Penn
State's Helen Darling (7.12 apg), and also ranks seventh in steals (2.06
spg).
Leslie Schock is ninth in the conference in scoring (14.8 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage (106-for-194, .546). In the rebounding category, Tami Sears is fifth with 8.3 boards per game. Dana Leonard is fifth in three-point field goal percentage, having canned 44-of-124 treys for a .355 mark.
Knocking Down Threes
The Wildcats are third in the Big Ten in three-point field goals
made with an average of 4.44 threes a game. The top two teams are Indiana
(5.83 threes per game) and Purdue (5.82 threes per game). Sophomore point
guard Dana Leonard has been responsible for over 50 percent of
Northwestern's three pointers this year. She has made a team-high 44
threes. The team as a whole has made 80.
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.
Points & Rebounds Production By Class (18 games)
Class (Players) Points/Pct. Rebounds/Pct. Minutes/Pct. Seniors (3) 339/ .274 138/ .193 914/ .254 Juniors (2) 296/ .240 161/ .225 846/ .235 Sophomores (5) 526/ .426 286/ .400 1,651/ .459 Freshman (2) 4/ .003 4/ .005 16/ .004* Does not include games or stats by Kristina Divjak or Bille Russell.
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
422-246, while he owns a 247-175 record with the Wildcats. NU has advanced
to postseason play six times during Perrelli's tenure.
Last week, Perrelli announced his retirement effective at the end of this season.
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."
Northwestern on Television
The Wildcats already have had two televised games. Fox Sports Bay
Area broadcast NU's game vs. California on
Dec. 17, while Fox Sports Chicago broadcasted the Ohio State game last Sunday.
One more Northwestern game will air this month when the Fox Sports
Chicago Game of the Week package begins.
Jan. 31 - NU at Minnesota, 2 p.m. CST - FSC network Dave Eanet and Amy Prichard are joined by Ann Werner for this season's Big Ten women's basketball coverage.
