Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Women's Basketball Loses to No. 9 Purdue, 77-65
1/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Freshman Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) scored a team-high 18 points and classmate Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) made four three-pointers en route to 14 points Thursday night, but it was not enough as Northwestern fell 77-65 to ninth-ranked Purdue in Evanston. The loss drops NU to 4-10, 0-3 in the conference.
Culver has hit nine shots from beyond the arc in her last two games, making her 17-of-39 for the season, a .436 percentage which tops the team. The Colorado native also had seven assists against the Boilermakers.
Kwasinski's 18 points was a team high, and marked the fifth time this season she has led the team in scoring. Another freshman, Suzanne Morrison (Franklin, Mich./ Detroit Country Day), ended the game as NU's leading rebounder, pulling down seven caroms. She also scored eight points.
Purdue's Shereka Wright had 17 points and Kelly Komara added 15 for the Boilermakers (11-2).
Despite the disparity in records, Purdue-the runner-up at last year's NCAA Tournament-struggled to put Northwestern away. Midway through the first stanza, the Wildcats cut Purdue's lead to one as Kwasinski took a Morrison pass and hit a 10-footer to make the score 23-22. Purdue then closed out the first half on a 13-5 run, putting NU in the hole 36-27 at the break.
After the break, the Wildcats scored 38 second-half points and closed to within six (48-42) with 12:48 remaining, but got no closer as the two teams essentially traded baskets the rest of the way.
