Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Meets Iowa Today
3/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2000
BIG TEN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
#10 Northwestern vs. #7 Iowa
DATE/TIME: Thursday, March 2, 2000/5 p.m. Central
SITE: Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.)
TV: None
RADIO: WNUR (89.3 FM)
ABOUT NORTHWESTERN (6-20, 3-13 Big Ten)
Northwestern closed out its regular season with a road loss at Michigan. The Wolverines gained control of the contest early and never looked back, scoring eight of the first 10 points and quickly building a 13-point lead (19-6). After the teams traded baskets, NU made its best run of the day, scoring eight straight points to make the score 21-16. However, Michigan responded, scoring 10 straight to open up a 15-point advantage en route to a 33-20 halftime lead. Michigan then scored the first 10 points in the second half to put it away. Junior Tami Sears led the way with 17 points, classmate Clarissa Flores added 10 and Bill?e Russell pitched in with nine. Sears is the Wildcats' leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 12.4 points and 7.5 boards per game.
ABOUT IOWA (9-17, 6-10 Big Ten)
Iowa fell to the defending national champion Purdue Boilermakers, 73-59, Sunday night at Mackey Arena in their final regular-season contest. Point guard Cara Consuegra led the way for the Hawkeyes, scoring 20 points and dishing out four assists. Lindsey Meder added 16 points. The Hawkeyes are averaging 67.6 points and pulling down 39.9 boards per game. They are shooting .388 from the field and .707 from the free-throw line. Individually, they have two players averaging double figures -- Lindsey Meder with 19.0 points per game and Cara Consuegra who averages 14.8. Randi Peterson is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 8.3 boards per game.
THE SERIES
Iowa owns a 26-11 advantage over the Wildcats in a series that began during the 1980 season. Northwestern captured the only regular-season meeting between these two this season. The Hawkeyes have won seven of the last nine meetings. This is the second year in a row that the 'Cats have faced the Hawkeyes in the first round of the conference championships.
NU PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- Leslie Schock (Sr., 6-0) 8.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg
F -- Tami Sears (Jr., 6-1) 12.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg
C -- Leslie Dolland (Fr., 6-2) 5.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg
G -- Natalie Will (Fr., 5-9) 2.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G -- Dana Leonard (Jr., 5-6) 10.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg
IOWA PROBABLE STARTERS
F -- Beatrice Bullock (So., 6-2) 3.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg
C -- Randi Peterson (Jr., 6-2) 6.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg
G -- Leah Magner (So., 5-10) 4.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G -- Cara Consuegra (Jr., 5-8) 14.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg
G -- Lindsey Meder (So., 5-8) 19.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg
HOW THEY MATCH UP
Points -- NU 53.0, Iowa 67.6
Points Allowed -- NU 69.4, Iowa 71.3
Rebounds -- NU 36.0, Iowa 39.9
Rebound Margin -- NU +0.9, Iowa +0.4
FG% -- NU .386, Iowa .388
FG% defense -- NU .449, Iowa .425
3-pt FG% -- NU .343, Iowa .319
FT% -- NU .572, Iowa .707
Assists -- NU 14.4, Iowa 12.9
Turnovers -- NU 23.4, Iowa 16.5
Blocks -- NU 1.9, Iowa 2.0
Steals -- NU 6.0, Iowa 6.7
DEJA VU
Today's game against the Hawkeyes will mark the second consecutive meeting between the two teams in postseason play. Last season the Wildcats (9th seed) defeated eighth-seeded Iowa, 75-71, to advance to the second round of the tournament before falling to Purdue. The 'Cats defeated Iowa on January 9, 53-52, at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
NU IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Northwestern has won only two games in the Big Ten Tournament since its revival in 1995, and has never made it past the quarterfinals. In 1996, the seventh-seeded Wildcats defeated No. 10 seed Michigan, 89-79. Last year, the Wildcats defeated Iowa.
1995
Quarterfinal -- (5) Indiana 77, (4) NU 75
1996
First Round -- (7) NU 89, (10) Michigan 79
Quarterfinal -- (2) Penn State 85, NU 70
1997
Quarterfinal -- (4) Iowa 73, (5) NU 63
1998
First Round -- (7) Penn State 97, (10) NU 76
1999
First Round -- (9) NU 75, (8) Iowa 71
Quarterfinal -- (1) Purdue 79, NU 56
BIG TEN STANDINGS
1. Penn State (15-1, 24-3)
2. Michigan (13-3, 21-6)
3. Purdue (11-5, 19-7)
Illinois (11-5, 21-9)
5. Michigan State (8-8, 17-10)
Wisconsin (8-8, 15-11)
7. Iowa (6-10, 9-17)
8. Ohio State (5-11, 12-14)
Indiana (5-11, 10-17)
10. Minnesota (3-13, 10-17)
Northwestern (3-13, 6-20)
THIEVES AMONG US
Northwestern registered a season-high 11 steals when they played Indiana on Jan. 16. Dana Leonard had four while Leslie Schock added three and Nicole Daniels chipped in two. Emily Butler and Leslie Dolland pilfered one apiece.
LEONARD STARS IN NEW ROLE
Junior guard Dana Leonard is getting a new perspective on the game, as she has come off the bench in 10 of the last 15 Wildcat outings. Leonard has only scored a combined 37 points in six starts since the opening of the Big Ten season. She got starts against Penn State (2), Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota and Michigan.
NU vs. CONFERENCE FOES
Tami Sears is ranked 19th in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per conference game. Sears is also ninth in field goal percentage, shooting 47.0 from the field, and ranks seventh in rebounding, pulling down 8.1 boards in conference games and fourth in defensive rebounds, pulling down 5.60 per contest. Emily Butler is averaging 3.63 assists per game to rank ninth in the conference. Dana Leonard is third in three-point field goals made, averaging 2.00, sinking 32 in league games. She is second in three-point percentage, shooting 36.4% from downtown.
CLEANING THE GLASS
The frontcourt trio of Leslie Dolland, Tami Sears and Leslie Schock are still a nuisance to Wildcat opponents on the glass. The frontcourt has torn down a combined 459 of the team's 937 total rebounds. Sears leads the team, averaging 7.5 boards per game, while Dolland pulls down 5.3 per game and Schock averages 5.1.
LOTS OF 3s
Junior guard Dana Leonard is moving up Northwestern's career list for three-point field goals made. Leonard is currently fifth with 130 career three-point field goals. Megan Chawansky (1995-99) is fourth on the list with 131.
DIVJAK IS BACK
Fifth-year senior Kristina Divjak is back in the Wildcat lineup. The 6-0 forward has made six appearances on the hardwood this season. Divjak saw four minutes of playing time against Penn State last Sunday. Prior to that, she played a season-high 18 minutes against Michigan State on Feb. 3, scoring five points to go with two rebounds and one steal. Divjak's initial return to the hardwood was on Jan. 2 at Penn State.
GIVING UP THE ROCK
Freshman point guard Emily Butler dished out a career-high nine assists in the 'Cats' loss to Indiana at home. She is averaging 3.4 assists per game.
DANIELS SCORES CAREER HIGH
Freshman guard Nicole Daniels' career-high seven points led the Wildcats in the loss to Purdue on Jan. 30. Daniels came off the bench, playing 18 minutes and going 2-of-3 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line while also adding four rebounds, one block and one assist.
WILDCATS ON THE AIR
All Wildcat games canl be heard on WNUR (89.3) radio, each preceded by a pregame interview with Coach June Olkowski. The broadcast can also be heard on nusports.com. Sam Walter calls the play by play. Ryan Daniels and Ben Adler provide the analysis.
UP NEXT
If the Wildcats defeat Iowa tonight, they would play No. 2 seed Michigan on Friday at 6 p.m. The 'Cats fell to the Wolverines in the final regular season game on Sunday, 70-46.
INJURY REPORT
The Wildcats have no major injuries this week.
