Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
Wildcats Fall to Michigan, 65-50
1/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2003
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan's Jennifer Smith scored 17 and Stephanie Gandy scored 15 points as the Wolverines defeated Northwestern 65-50 in Ann Arbor Thursday night.
For the first six minutes of the game NU and Michigan battled, but just before the second media timeout, things started to slip away from Northwestern.
Tied 8-8 with 14:01 remaining, Michigan put together a 23-3 run, making the score 31-11 with 1:20 left until half.
Junior Michelle Zylstra (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) and sophomore Kristin Ambrose (Minnetonka, Minn./The Blake School) each hit a three with the clock winding down, making the score 31-17. But a late Wolverine bucket gave Michigan a 17-point halftime lead.
NU never got on track after that, as Michigan's pressure defense thwarted any sort of Wildcat comeback.
The second half was a back and forth battle, with both teams shooting 46 percent from the floor. Northwestern won the second period 33-32 and out-rebounded Michigan 20-15, but the overall battle of the boards was 36-35.
Sophomore Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) and senior Natalie Will (Nappanee, Ind./Northwood) each had 10 points; with Kwasinski grabbing a team high nine rebounds.
Senior Nicole Daniels (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) came off the bench to score five points and snare a team-high three steals. She also grabbed four rebounds in only 11 minutes of work.
The 'Cats are next in action when they host No. 12/11 Purdue at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m.
