Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Miami (Fla.)
Women's Basketball Falls to Miami, 86-69
11/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2001
Coral Gables, Fla. - Northwestern's women's basketball team took to the road for the first time this season as they traveled south to take on the University of Miami. The Hurricanes used an early second half run to defeat the 'Cats 86-69.
NU's Emily Butler (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) and Michelle Zylstra (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) provided the scoring as Butler poured in a game-high 20 points and Zylstra scored 17. The two combined to pull down nine rebounds, dish out four assists and tally three steals.
Miami opened the game on a 6-0 run and stretched that lead to 28-18 with 6:11 remaining in the first half. In the first 13-plus minutes, Butler scored eight straight points to keep the Wildcats in the game.
In the final six minutes of the first half, NU outscored the Hurricanes 17-11 and used a spectacular out-of-bounds play to end the half. Freshman Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) took the ball at the half court line and floated a perfect pass to classmate Sarah Kwasinski (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) who laid it in as time expired.
Miami came out of the break and went on an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 50-37. The Hurricanes had four players in double digits led by Alicia Hartlaub's double double. She scored 18 points and pulled down 10 caroms.
The Hurricanes used consistent foul shooting to tame the 'Cats as they hit 18-of-24 in the second half and 22-of-28 in the game. Northwestern shot just 13 free throws in the game, making eight of them.
The Wildcats wouldn't get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
NU outrebounded (37-34) and had a higher shooting percentage (49.1-47.6) but couldn't overcome the 11-2 run at the beginning of the second half.
NU is next in action this Friday, Nov. 23, when they take on Florida International at the Florida International Thanksgiving Classic in Miami. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
