Northwestern University Athletics
2002-03 Women's Basketball Season in Review
4/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 10, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Coming off consecutive four-win seasons, NU entered the 2003 season unable to predict what the future would hold. The coaches and players were optimistic, as all five 2002 starters returned, including 2002 honorable mention All-Big Ten selection Sarah Kwasinski. Kwasinski did not disappoint, leading the team in scoring (12.0), rebounding (6.7) and blocked shots (51) and finishing fourth in assists (58). She also tied for the team lead with 35 steals (19 in conference games). For her play in 2003, Kwasinski garnered her second consecutive honorable mention All-Big Ten accolade from both the coaches and media.
Kwasinski, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Chicago, has 105 career blocks and needs just one more to tie Christina Braden (1992-96) for second place on the career blocked-shots list. She had a season-high six blocks against Indiana on Feb. 20, just one shy of her own NU record (7 vs. Illinois, 1/20/03). Braden blocked 106 shots in 118 games while at NU. Kwasinski sits at 105 having played only 56 games. For her career, Kwasinski is averaging 1.88 blocks per game. Wildcat legend Anucha Browne (1982-85) is atop the career list with 174 blocks in 110 games, a 1.58 average.
The first four games of the 2003 schedule did not treat the 'Cats kindly as they fell to 1-3. While it seemed the latest version of the women's basketball team was destined to repeat history, along came a three-game winning streak and its 10th Mildred & Roger L. White Invitational championship. It was NU's first title since 1998. Kwasinski earned tournament MVP honors, while classmate Samantha McComb was picked as an all-tournament member.
NU just missed running its win streak to four games after a heartbreaking, 56-49, overtime loss to Dayton at home the following week. After the loss to the Flyers, the team split its next two games and started Big Ten play with its best record in three years at 5-5.
Sometimes beginnings are meant to be forgotten. NU looked like the team of old in the Big Ten opener at Ohio State-an 82-49 loss. But, the 'Cats responded with a 52-46 win over Michigan State, snapping a 43-game conference losing streak that dated back to the 1999-00 season.
With the conference losing streak over, NU stepped out of Big Ten play one last time, losing to eventual NCAA Tournament-bound DePaul, 70-51. The loss dropped NU to 6-7 overall.
Following the win over MSU and the loss to DePaul, the team as a whole seemed to take a step backward. NU went on a 10-game losing streak, averaging just 53.9 points per game while giving up 69.4 in that span.
But as they did early in the Big Ten season, NU bounced back with a crushing, 67-38 defeat over Michigan. During a game in which all cylinders were clicking, NU scored 31 unanswered points over a 13-minute, eight-second stretch in the first half to go up 40-12 at the break. In holding Michigan to its lowest output since 1994, the 'Cats set a school record for fewest points allowed in a Big Ten game. NU also matched the June Olkowski -era mark for fewest points allowed, tying the record set Dec. 3, 1999 in a 55-38 win over Princeton. The 29-point margin of victory was the largest during Olkowski's four seasons in Evanston.
The Michigan win was a springboard for the next three games, as NU dropped a heartbreaker to No. 17 Minnesota by three (64-61) and defeated Indiana (50-46). The four-point win over the Hoosiers was especially satisfying as NU closed out its home schedule with a win for the seniors. The win was short-lived, as NU dropped another heartbreaker at Illinois (60-58) and then closed out the regular season with a loss at Michigan State.
Winning against Michigan and Indiana vaulted NU to its highest tournament seeding in three years at No. 10. But the late-season run was cut short as the Big Ten tournament's seventh seed, Iowa, beat the Wildcats in the first round, 70-58, ending the season. Besides adding to their best Big Ten record in three years, the wins over Michigan and Indiana gave NU six home wins for the season, equaling its highest home-win total since 1997-98, when the team also went 6-7 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The three conference wins matched the most conference wins in any Olkowski season to date, as NU won three games in her inaugural season of 1999. The eight total wins matched the previous two-year totals combined, giving hope to next season. All five starters will return for the second-straight season.
But unlike last year, NU had more than just one offensive threat. Besides Kwasinski, McComb stepped up and proved to be a legitimate long-range threat, finishing the conference regular season fifth in three-point field-goal percentage (46-for-132, .348) and eighth in three-point field goals made (46). McComb also finished second to senior Natalie Will in assists with 69. Will completed the season with 77 helpers.
Sophomore forward Suzanne Morrison, who started 13 games, came on strong late in the season, averaging 10.5 points in the last six games, including three straight with 13 points or more. She tallied a season-high 17 in NU's three-point loss to Minnesota.
Stepping in and making an impact right away-and even more importantly, gaining valuable experience through playing time-was freshman forward Ifeoma Okonkwo. Okonkwo started the first two games of the season and quickly learned the difference between high school and Division I college basketball. Relegated to the bench for the next nine games, Okonkwo worked her way back into the starting lineup by the beginning of the conference season. The Texas native made the most of her time, totaling the third-most starts on the team (18) and finishing second to Kwasinski in total rebounds (108). She also finished the regular season ranked 22nd in conference rebounding, averaging 4.8 caroms per Big Ten game.
