Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ohio State
Women's Basketball Downed By Buckeyes, 77-51
1/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Taking to the road for the second time in the young Big Ten conference season, the Northwestern women's basketball team traveled to Columbus to take on Ohio State. Playing in front of its largest crowd this season (7,875) at Value City Arena, the Buckeye rebounding coupled with poor Wildcat shooting led to a 77-51 Ohio State win. The loss drops NU to 4-11, 0-4 in the Big Ten.
The Wildcat backcourt shot a combined 3-for-26, including 2-for-19 from three-point range. The team shot 18-for-59 for the game and 5-of-23 from behind the arc.
"They (Ohio State) did a good job of making us do things we didn't want to do," said head coach June Olkowski. "I can't remember the last time we shot 23 threes in a game."
Junior forward Natalie Will (Nappanee, Ind./Northwood) started the game with a baseline three-pointer that proved to be NU's only lead of the game. Down 9-8 with 15:39 to play in the first half, OSU went on a decisive 17-4 run to put the game out of reach. The Buckeyes would eventually take a 42-22 lead into the break.
The second half was a relatively evenly matched affair as OSU outscored NU 35-29.
While shooting woes hampered guard production, freshmen Suzanne Morrison (Franklin, Mich./Detroit Country Day) and Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) quietly put together solid days. Morrison led the team in rebounding missing her second double-double of the season by one board. The Michigan native had 10 points.
Chicago product Kwasinski led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season, scoring 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor and one free throw.
Will scored nine points on three three-pointers and pulled down six rebounds.
NU is next in action when they travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, Thursday Jan. 10. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
