Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Wildcats Succumb To No. 18 Minnesota, 68-47
3/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Janel McCarville had 15 points and 11 rebounds, leading 18th-ranked Minnesota to a 68-47 victory Thursday night over Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
"We did what we set out to do," said head coach June Olkowski. "We played hard and ran our offense extremely well, but we simply could not convert our open shots and did not rebound consistently enough."
Minnesota (21-7) won its first conference tournament game since 1997 and only its second in the 11-year history of the event. The Golden Gophers now face No. 22 Ohio State in Friday's quarterfinals.
Northwestern (8-20), led by Samantha McComb with 16 points, ended its season with just one victory in its last 17 games.
The Golden Gophers, who had two lost two straight and three of four entering the game, again were without Lindsay Whalen, their career scoring leader. Whalen missed her sixth straight game with two broken bones in her right hand.
Minnesota had another scare in the first half when McCarville, the Gophers' No. 2 scorer, had a nasty fall while trying to grab an offensive rebound.
McCarville landed hard on her stomach and walked off the court after a few moments. She was held out for the final 6:14 of the half.
But the Gophers did well without her. Jamie Broback put in a layup to break a 15-15 tie on Minnesota's next possession. That started a 12-4 run which led to a 27-19 halftime lead.
With McCarville back after the break, Minnesota went on another 12-4 run to make it 39-23 and seal the outcome.
The Wildcats committed 9 turnovers in the contest, a season low for Northwestern. Senior Michelle Zylstra ended her career with a 14 point game.
When asked to sum up her four seasons wearing a Wildcat uniform, the forward simply said, "I'm very proud."
"My kids played hard tonight and I am proud of them," said Olkowski. "Things just didn't go our way tonight."
The Associated Press contributed to this story
