Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Off To Face Big Ten's Top Team
1/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2004
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Northwestern will open up the month of February on the road, facing the No. 5/6 team in the nation and Big Ten-leading Penn State. The Wildcats are coming off a disappointing loss at home to Iowa on Thursday, falling to the Hawkeyes 76-61.
Ifeoma Okonkwo led the 'Cats in scoring and rebounding, grabbing her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards. Breanne Smilie scored in the double figures for the first time in her career (10 points) and classmate Alex Mueller added 11 to round out the team's top scorers.
Overall, Okonkwo is second on her team in both overall scoring and conference scoring (10.8 ppg, 9.5 ppg), while Mueller leads NU in Big Ten scoring (10.0 ppg) and the injured Samantha McComb leads overall with 12.1 ppg.
Northwestern may have reason to celebrate next week, with McComb, a co-captain, possibly returning to the lineup for the first time since December 28 (at Loyola Marymount). The junior has been out with a foot injury--the 'Cats were 5-4 with McComb in the lineup, 0-8 without her.
While the Wildcats have struggled in the Big Ten, one bright spot is their shooting from beyond the arc. NU ranks second in the conference, scoring 48 total and averaging 6.00 3-pointers per game. Okonkwo is 5-10 overall from 3-point range, and is shooting .545 in total field goals.
NU will be up against Kelly Mazzante, the Big Ten's newly crowned all-time leading scorer, and likely the most formidable team in the league. With an 8-0 Big Ten record, PSU has won four of its conference games by 10 or fewer points. They recently beat St. Joseph's 80-44 in a nonconference game on the 29th.
Penn State's losses have come against Old Dominion (75-68), then-No. 12/12 Louisiana Tech and then-No. 14/14 North Carolina.
The meeting will be the 23rd all-time between Northwestern and Penn State, with the Nittany Lions holding a 19-3 advantage. The teams played only once last season and will repeat that in 2003-04 with only one regular season game scheduled.
A LOOK AHEAD
The Wildcats continue their home and away pattern next week, hosting Illinois on Thursday and heading to Michigan State on Sunday. NU then returns to Welsh-Ryan for two games the week on February 9 (Indiana, Purdue) before closing out the regular season with three on the road (Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan). February 15 (vs. the Boilermakers) will serve as senior night, honoring Michelle Zylstra, Kristin Ambrose and Suzi Sutton.
