Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
Women's Basketball Loses to Penn State, 77-47
1/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's women's basketball team fell to Penn State 77-47 in Big Ten action Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Freshman guard Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) led the 'Cats (4-17, 0-10 Big Ten) with 10 points. Culver also dished out a team-high three assists in 32 minutes of action.
The 'Cats stayed even with the Lady Lions (14-8, 6-3 Big Ten) on the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds to Penn State's 41. Five Wildcats finished with four or more rebounds. But Penn State's stout defense forced 24 NU turnovers, leading to 23 PSU points.
Junior center Leslie Dolland (Bloomington, Minn./The Blake School) and reserve forward Suzanne Morrison (Franklin, Mich./Detroit Country Day) added nine points each for Northwestern.
Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, the nation's leading scorer, scored 26 points to lead all scorers. Mazzante entered the game averaging 25.1 points per game.
Northwestern trailed 37-17 at the half, but drew within 14 points midway through the stanza at 52-38. However, the Lady Lions scored the game's next 11 points to effectively end the contest. The 17 first-half points marked a season low for NU.
The 'Cats next action will be this Sunday, February 3 at Michigan. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Central.
