Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Pennsylvania
Women's Basketball Needs OT To Beat Penn, 77-71
12/1/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Dec. 1, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - In a riveting game that went to overtime, the Northwestern women's basketball team defeated Pennsylvania, 77-71, in first-round action at the Roger L. White Invitational Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats will now meet Nevada-Las Vegas in the championship game Saturday night at 8 p.m. The Lady Rebels defeated Northeastern University in the other first-round game, 62-58. Northeastern and Penn will play in the consolation at 6 p.m.
A see-saw affair between NU and Penn gave a loud Welsh-Ryan crowd of 1,700 plenty of thrills in regulation and overtime. Ultimately, though, Northwestern used an 8-1 run in the extra session to gain control of the game.
Penn gained early control in the OT, with four of the first six points, before an Emily Butler free throw and Leslie Dolland bucket on a pick-and-roll with Courtney Koester gave the 'Cats a 68-67 lead with three minutes left. One minute later, Butler picked off a Quaker pass and went the distance for a layup. From there, it was a matter of making free throws, as the Wildcats went 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final 1:10 to cement the victory.
In regulation, Northwestern clawed back from a 51-44 deficit to tie it at 61-61 when Butler made a pair of free throws with 3:32 to play. Penn's Erin Ladley answered with two foul shots of her own seven seconds later, and it was nearly two minutes before either team would score again as Butler hit 1-of-2 foul shots making the score 63-62, Penn.
Diana Caramanico missed a wild 3-point attempt for the Quakers, but after NU called timeout off the rebound Julie Epton stole Natalie Will's inbounds pass. Ladley then missed a long jumper but got her own rebound before having it stripped away by Butler. Butler looked she might give NU the lead on the layup, but Ladley turned the tables and swiped it off of Butler's leg out of bounds to Penn with just 35 seconds left on the clock.
Caramanico again put up an ill-advised 3-pointer, though, with plenty of time remaining on the shot and game clock, and it missed to Leslie Dolland who was fouled with six seconds on the clock. She missed the first foul shot but made the second, tying the game at 63-63, and then Epton missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have won it for the Quakers.
The high theater came after an entertaining first half that saw Pennsylvania bolt out to a 12-3 lead before NU settled down and went on a staggering 26-4 run of its own for a 29-16 lead.
Penn recovered, though, and chipped away at the lead so that the score with 37-29 at the break. The Quakers then started the second half with a 12-3 run to take a 41-40 lead, and used another 8-0 run to make the score 51-44 setting up Northwestern's comeback.
Dolland had a monster game for Northwestern, with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Emily Butler led NU with 22 points. Will added nine points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
For Penn, Caramanico -- the two-time Ivy League Player of the Year -- led all scorers with 23 points, 11 boards, five assists and eight steals. Ladley finished with 13 points, while Epton had 12 and Jennifer Jones added 10.
In the other first-round game Friday night, Linda Frohlich had 18 points and Dayna Gambill added 17 as UNLV used a late comeback to down Northeastern, 62-58. The Lady Rebels trailed much of the second half and were down, 52-45, with less than eight minutes to play. They went on a 13-2 run over the next six minutes, though, and gained control for the win. The Huskies were led by Genny Caruso, who had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Aisha Williams added 13 points and Melissa Kowalski chipped in 11.
