Northwestern University Athletics
Women's Basketball Heads to Purdue
1/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2001
EVANSTON, ILL. - The Matchup
Northwestern at Purdue
Sunday, Jan. , 2001 * Mackey Arena * West Lafayette, Ind.
Television: None
Radio: WNUR (98.3)
Northwestern Probable Starters
Purdue Probable Starters
NU-Purdue -- The Series
It's Better to Give Than to Receive
Butler at the Wheel for NU
Go-Go Gadget Arms
Cat Tracks
Northwestern Basketball Hits the Airwaves
Last Time Out -- Wildcats Fall to Intrastate Rival Illinois, 88-65
Illinois Game Notes
Wildcats Sign Four Early
Northwestern (4-9, 0-4 Big Ten)
#6 Purdue (14-3, 4-0 Big Ten)
Purdue has won its last six games, including its first four in Big Ten action. Three of those four conference victories came on the road, including a 67-59 win at Indiana on Jan. 7. Against the Hoosiers, freshman reserve Shalicia Hurns scored a season-high 19 points to lead all scorers. Senior Camille Cooper recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while classmate Katie Douglas also entered double figures with 13 points. Douglas leads Purdue with 14.2 points, 4.3 assists and 2.9 steals in 30.2 minutes per game. Hurns leads the Boilermakers in rebounding (6.2), while Cooper ranks second in both scoring (13.6) and rebounding (6.1). The Boilermakers are coached by Kristy Curry who is in her second season at the helm. The Boilers are 37-11 under Curry, who guided Purdue to its third consecutive Big Ten title last season.
Pos. Player Cl. Ht. PPG RPG
F Tami Sears Sr. 6-2 9.4 5.7
C Leslie Dolland So. 6-2 8.5 6.5
G Emily Butler So. 5-8 13.7 2.4
G Natalie Will So. 5-9 6.3 4.0
G Dana Leonard Sr. 5-6 7.0 1.2
Pos. Player Cl. Ht. PPG RPG
F Katie Douglas Sr. 6-1 14.2 4.4
F Candi Crawford Sr. 6-1 3.7 2.3
C Camille Cooper Sr. 6-4 13.6 6.1
G Kelly Komara Jr. 5-7 8.4 2.8
G Erika Valek Fr. 5-6 6.8 2.9
The Boilermakers own a 26-18 advantage over the Wildcats in the series which began during the 1976-77 season. Purdue defeated the Wildcats last season in both meetings, 70-31 at in West Lafayette, and 64-57 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The last time Northwestern defeated the Boilermakers was February 21, 1997 (64-55 in Evanston).
This old adage seems to hold true for sophomore guard Natalie Will. Will has dished out 47 assists so far this season, while only turning the ball over 31 times. Will is ninth in the Big Ten with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.52. The Nappanee, Ind., native also has 21 steals on the season.
Team Captains Named
Senior Tami Sears and sophomore Leslie Dolland were named team captains by their peers. Sears is currently second on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg), while Dolland is leading the team on the glass (6.5 rpg).
That 70's Show
The Wildcats have scored 70 or more points in five games so far this season. Last season NU scored 70 or more points just twice, defeating Loyola-Chicago 76-73, and Minnesota in overtime 76-67.
Sophomore point guard Emily Butler has directed the Wildcat attack so far this season. She is averaging 13.7 points per game to lead the team. The Greenwood, Indiana, native scored a career-best 22 points to lead NU's Dec. 1 victory over Penn. Butler leads the team in assists with 63, and has 22 steals on the season.
Spreading The Rock Around
Northwestern has had six different players lead the team in scoring this season (in one of NU's games, two players tied for team high honors in scoring). Senior guard Dana Leonard is the newest addition to the list, scoring 19 points against OSU (1/7) to lead the 'Cats. Sophomore center Leslie Dolland led the team with a career-high 21 points in the Wildcats' win over Northern Illinois (11/20) and again against Miami (11/24), scoring 13 points in the win. Sophomore guard Emily Butler has been the leading scorer in six games this season, most recently, 18 in the loss to Penn State. Butler scored a career-high 22 against Penn (12/1). Senior forward Tami Sears has seen her share of scoring honors, leading the 'Cats against Illinois with 16, UNLV (12/2) with 16, 12 against Creighton (12/10) and 16 against Cal.-Santa Barbara (12/17). Sophomore guard Natalie Will had a career-high 25 points in the loss to Long Beach to lead the 'Cats on Dec. 15. And rounding out the quintet is sophomore forward Nicole Daniels, who lead the 'Cats with 12 points in the loss to Creighton.
Sophomore Nicole Daniels has had Inspector Gadgetesque abilities on the boards. The 5-10 forward is everywhere, grabbing 36 boards so far this season.
Emily Butler and Leslie Dolland are the only Wildcats to start each of the contests so far this season ... Dana Leonard got her first start of the season and scored a season-high 19 points against Ohio State ... NU has 10 players averaging double-figure minutes per game, including six with 20-plus minutes ... The 'Cats have been good from the charity strip, connecting 209 times out of 311 attempts for 67% ... Tami Sears, Leslie Dolland, Michelle Zylstra and Bill?e Russell have all recorded double-doubles this season ... The 'Cats are ranked 169th in the latest RPI rankings ... Tami Sears is leading the Wildcats in free-throw shooting, sinking 41-of-56 from the line (73.0%) ... In their last five games, the Wildcats have averaged 65.4 points.
This season, 18 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.
The Northwestern (4-10, 0-4 Big Ten) women's basketball team dropped an, 88-65, decision to intrastate rival Illinois (7-8, 2-1 Big Ten) at Welsh-Ryan Arena Tuesday night.
The `Cats were led by Tami Sears' 16 points and seven rebounds. Michelle Zylstra added 10 points.
Turnovers again plagued NU, with 23 giveaways yielding 25 Illinois points.
The `Cats stayed close in the first half behind a 5-for-6 start from long distance, including three-pointers on two consecutive possessions from Zylstra. Ashley Messenger gave NU an 18-17 lead with a trey, but the Illini took control with a 13-2 run. Illinois led 47-33 at the break.
Anne O'Neil led the Illini offense with 17 points. O'Neil was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
* Senior Becky Fisher checked in for the first time this season. Fisher scored two points and pulled down two rebounds.
* Dana Leonard started again for the 'Cats and scored 10 points.
* The 'Cats were 16-26 from the charity stripe, shooting 62% from the line.
* Emily Butler was perfect from three-point land, 2-for-2.
* Illinois scored 25 points off of miscues compared to NU's eight.
Northwestern women's basketball coach June Olkowski signed four players for the 2001-02 season (Samantha McComb, Sarah Kwasinski, Melissa Culver, and Suzanne Morrison) during the early signing period in November.
"We felt it was important to sign players who had a outstanding work ethic and believed that we are going to move to the upper echelon of Big Ten basketball," Olkowski said. "Each of the athletes we signed possess both of these qualities, as well as being very talented players.
"Suzanne and Sarah are both very good in the post, they have touch and are very athletic. We expect them to be able to contribute next season as forces inside," Olkowski continued. "Samantha and Melissa will complement our perimeter play, and I'm excited about that. Both are capable of playing at point guard as well as shooting guard. That combination makes us more flexible on the perimeter next year."
