Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Set to Host Iowa Sunday
1/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2000
NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Iowa
Sunday, January 9, 2000 ? 4 p.m. Central
at Welsh-Ryan Arena ? Evanston, Ill.
TV: None
RADIO: WNUR (89.3 FM)
NORTHWESTERN (4-8, 1-1 Big Ten)
The Wildcats earned their first Big Ten win of the season Thursday with a 58-55 decision over Michigan State. Tami Sears led the ?Cats with 14 points and six rebounds, while Leslie Schock added nine points and 12 boards. Dana Leonard also reached double figures with 10 points. Northwestern looks to keep its winning ways alive today, taking on the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Wildcats are 1-1 in the Big Ten entering today?s game ? they fell to Penn State, 114-49, on Jan. 2.
IOWA (4-8, 1-2 Big Ten)
Iowa enters today?s game 1-2 in the Big Ten after falling to Illinois Friday night, 86-60. Cara Consuegra led the Hawkeyes with 20 points, while Randi Peterson grabbed a team-high 11 boards. The Hawkeyes opened the Big Ten season with an 80-63 loss to Penn State. A week ago today, Iowa defeated Indiana, 82-68. Lindsey Meder scored a career-high 30 points and added six rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes in the win.
THE NU/IOWA SERIES
Iowa owns a 26-10 advantage over the Wildcats in a series that began during the 1980 season. Iowa captured the only regular-season meeting between these two last year, but the Wildcats avenged the loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, 75-71. The Hawkeyes have won seven of the last eight meetings.
NU PROBABLE STARTERS
Pos. Player Cl. Ht. PPG RPG Notes
F Leslie Schock Sr. 6-0 9.1 6.6 30.3 mpg
F Tami Sears Jr. 6-1 11.4 6.1 .614 fg%
C Leslie Dolland Fr. 6-2 6.1 5.3 .600 ft%
G Natalie Will Fr. 5-9 2.7 2.3 .625 ft%
G Emily Butler Fr. 5-8 6.5 3.0 3.2 apg
HEAD COACH JUNE OLKOWSKI
June Olkowski is in her first season as head women?s basketball coach at Northwestern University. Olkowski 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.
LAST TIME OUT ? Wildcats Beat Michigan State, 58-55
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern (4-8, 1-1 Big Ten) shook off a slow start and defeated Michigan State (10-4, 1-2), 58-55, in its Big Ten home opener at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Spartans started off hot, scoring the first nine points of the game before junior Tami Sears got the ?Cats on the board with a layup as NU began to chip away at the lead. Northwestern put together an 11-0 run midway through the half, as Leslie Dolland capped the run with a jumper to give Northwestern its first lead at 22-21. The teams then traded baskets over the final five minutes, and Northwestern settled for a 33-31 halftime lead. The game remained close throughout the second half. A jumper by Leslie Schock pushed the Northwestern lead to seven with 14:36 remaining, but Michigan State clawed back and eventually tied the game at 53-53 with 4:26 left. Dana Leonard answered with a three-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead for good. Sears led a balanced Northwestern attack with 14 points. Leonard added 10 points off the bench while Schock contributed nine points and a season-high 12 rebounds. Kristen Rasmussen led the Spartans with 22 points.
SEARS SIZZLES
Tami Sears has come off the bench and been the Wildcats? scoring explosion. She contributed a team-high 18 points in a loss to Creighton and recorded her third double-double of the season by adding 11 rebounds. Sears stayed hot in the contest against Loyola (Chicago) on December 29, scoring 19 points in the win. Sear?s performances earned her a starting spot in the Wildcats? matchup against Penn State, and she led the team with 13 points in the loss. She then got a starting nod in the Big Ten home opener against Michigan State and scored a team-high 14 points to lead the ?Cats to their first Big Ten win of the season.
CAREER NIGHT
Freshman guard Emily Butler was 8-of-17 from the floor, sinking three treys, as she scored a career high 21 points in the Wildcats? win over Loyola. She has scored 78 points this season, averaging 6.5 per game. Butler is also the only Wildcat to start in all 12 games so far this season.
SPREADING IT AROUND
This season eight Wildcats are averaging double figures in minutes played per game. Dana Leonard (30.3 mpg) and Leslie Schock (30.1) are the only players averaging more than 30 minutes per game.
INJURY UPDATE
Northwestern was hit by the injury bug early in the season. Fifth-year senior forward Kristina Divjak made her 1999-2000 debut against Penn State, playing six minutes, but her status in the Wildcat lineup will continue to be on a game-by-game decision. Divjak, a 1998 Preseason All-American candidate, underwent season-ending surgery last Dec. 28 for a condition in her left knee known as lateral patella compression syndrome. Divjak ranks seventh in career scoring (1,624) and is NU?s all-time free throw shooter by percentage (.833). Joining Divjak on the injured list is junior forward Chala Holland, who is out after patella debridement surgery last June on her right knee, and has not fully recovered. Junior guard Dana Leonard missed the game against Loyola (12/29/99) because of a foot infection.
SEARS AND SCHOCK - Forces on the Boards
The frontcourt tandem of Leslie Schock and Tami Sears has caused trouble for Wildcat opponents this season on the glass. Schock and Sears have torn down a combined 152 boards this season. Schock leads the team, averaging 6.6 boards per game, while Sears brings down 6.1 per game.
DRAINING THREES
Junior guard Dana Leonard is fifth in the Big Ten in three-point field goals made, connecting 22 times in 11 games. Leonard averages 2.00 treys per game. Leonard is fifth in the league in three-point percentage, shooting 37 percent (22-of-60) from behind the arc.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Freshman Leslie Dolland recorded the first double-double of her college career with a 10-point, 11-rebound performance against Creighton on Dec. 21. Tami Sears, meanwhile, recorded her third double-double of the season with an 18-point, 10-rebound performance against the Bluejays. Sears recorded seven double-doubles last season.
WILDCATS FEATURE FOUR 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 faced 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 and Boston College have been ranked in the top 25 polls each week since the season started. As for the conference schedule, three of the 11 teams are ranked in the 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. Penn State is currently ranked sixth in the AP Top 25 poll, while Purdue is 12th, and Illinois is 15th.
HITTING 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 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
Following tonight?s game, Northwestern plays host to the Badgers of Wisconsin on Jan. 12. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. The ?Cats hit the road as they travel to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers Jan. 16.
