Northwestern University Athletics
Big Ten Play Continues Vs. Minnesota
1/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2004
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern will face its toughest opponent of the season on Thursday when it hosts the No.6/6 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CST. The meeting will be the 44th all-time between the two teams, with NU holding a 29-14 advantage. However, the last Wildcat win took place on Jan.20, 2000, a 50-44 victory. Minnesota has taken five straight from NU.
The 'Cats enter the game owning a 7-5,0-1 record after dropping their first conference match of the season to Michigan by the score of 62-43. Turnovers plagued Northwestern throughout the game, as Michigan scored 23 points off those errors.
Freshman Alex Mueller highlighted the NU bench, scoring a team-high 13 points in her 19 minutes of play. Mueller and classmate A.J. Glasauer accounted for 21 of Northwestern's 43 points in the game.
Ifeoma Okonkwo continues to emerge as a leader for the 'Cats, scoring nine points in Sunday 's game. The sophomore is second in overall scoring this season (11.2 ppg) and leads her team with 6.2 rpg.
On the other hand, Minnesota is unbeaten in 03-04 (12-0/1-0) after last week 's victories over Michigan and South Carolina. The 12-0 start matches the best start for the Gophers, set last season.
Senior Lindsay Whalen was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season, averaging 29.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 4.7 assists per game last week in wins over Virginia, Michigan and South Carolina. Whalen has 2,004 points, becoming the third player in Minnesota history and ninth in Big Ten history to surpassed the 2,000 career points milestone. She is 94 points from becoming Minnesota's all-time leading scorer.
Taking a look ahead, the Wildcats will face Ohio State on Jan.11 at 2 p.m. The game is the final of three home games for Northwestern as they travel to Purdue for the first Big Ten road game of the season on Jan.15. Indiana completes the weekend on Jan.18. NU will return home to Welsh-Ryan on Jan.22 when they host Michigan State.
