Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host Michigan State On Thursday
1/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - After dropping their fifth-straight conference game, the Wildcats are now figuring out how to get a win in the Big Ten. Playing at Indiana on Sunday, NU minimized its turnovers, something that plagued them throughout the conference season. The 'Cats came back from deficits to force overtime and were within three of winning their first league game.
Injury and illness have plagued NU (7-9, 0-5 Big Ten) since the December holidays, and they have dropped six of their last seven after starting the season with a 7-4 record. Missing from the lineup were Samantha McComb, the 'Cats' leading scorer, honorable mention All-Big Ten center Sarah Kwasinski, Kristin Ambrose and Maria McCarthy. Suzanne Morrison is listed as a medical redshirt for 2003-04. Kwasinski is now back in the lineup, having led NU in boards at IU. Ambrose is seeing minimal time, McCarthy is probable for Michigan State and McComb will not play.
Northwestern's rookie class is making some noise on the court, playing well despite the five league losses. Alex Mueller is leading Northwestern in league scoring, averaging 10.2 ppg in the last five games. Illinois native Breanne Smilie has seen significant playing time as well as starting in the last four games. In 2003, her lone previous point came on a foul shot at Southern Illinois, but Smilie has scored in the last two games, including eight at Purdue.
Michigan State has won its last three, including Sunday's dominating 67-33 win over Michigan. The Spartans also have league wins over then-No. 22 Ohio State (55- 47) and Indiana (59-41). All three league wins have come at home for MSU. The two losses were at then-No. 10/9 Penn State (64-62) and then-No. 10/11 Purdue (77-67).
Two Spartans are averaging double-digit points--sophomores Lindsay Bowen (12.3 ppg) and Liz Shimek (11.4 ppg). Shimek also leads MSU in rebounds per game, averaging 9.4.
Joanne McCallie is in her fourth season at Michigan State and has a 59-46 record in that span. Overall, McCallie has coached for 15 seasons, earning a 226-119 mark in that time. McCallie is a 1987 graduate of Northwestern.
Thursday's game is the 44th all-time between the Wildcats and Spartans. Both teams hold a 22-22 record in the matchup's history.
