Northwestern
Illinois
Women's Basketball Falls to No. 13 Illinois, 82-65
1/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern gave an excellent account of itself on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,117 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Illinois ? ranked 13th in this week?s Associated Press poll ? proved to have too many weapons in the end and defeated the Wildcats, 82-65.
NU dropped to 6-11 (3-4 Big Ten), while the Illini snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 15-7 (5-3 Big Ten).
The Wildcats proved to be a pesky bunch for most of the day. In the first half, NU stayed within a point (15-14) before allowing the Illini to go on a 9-0 run over a span of 3:36 to make the score 24-14 with 10:11 to play. The difference stayed at 10, before NU went on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 32-30 with 4:34 left. Illinois responded with a 7-1 run the rest of the way, though, and took a 39-31 advantage into the locker room.
Northwestern continued to hang around in the second half, keeping the deficit inside of single digits but at the same time getting no closer than six points on several occasions. Illinois finally got the lead above 10 with 6:54 to play when Tauja Catchings converted a layup, and the Wildcats would get no closer than nine points after that.
Illinois closed the game out at the foul line, converting 11 of 13 in the final two minutes to gain the 17-point lead which was their largest advantage of the day.
Northwestern had several sterling performances, particularly Leslie Dolland. The freshman came up with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double, and also dished out six assists. Tami Sears also had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, while Leslie Schock led the way with 18 points and snared seven rebounds. Emily Butler had 10 points and six assists.
For the 13th-ranked Illini, Allison Curtin had 20 points and six assists while Catchings added 19 points. Point guard Shavonna Hunter proved to be a major catalyst in the second half, scoring all of her 14 points in the second stanza and also dishing out a game-high seven assists.
Northwestern is back in action on Wednesday, hosting Indiana at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Please note the start time has been changed ? tipoff was originally set for 6 p.m.
