Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Play Host To No. 24 Purdue
1/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NU-Purdue Game Notes in PDF Format
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Jan. 28, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern will take on its fourth-consecutive ranked opponent at 2 p.m. Sunday when No. 24 Purdue comes to Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats enter the tilt with renewed confidence, coming off a 59-48 victory over No. 22 Penn State--NU's first win over a ranked foe since 1999.
Against the Lady Lions Thursday, Northwestern raced out to a 37-18 halftime lead, shooting 57 percent from the field while holding Penn State to eight points below its worst first-period output of the season. NU eventually held a 26-point advantage before cruising to the victory to hand PSU its first Conference loss of the season.
Junior Ifeoma Onkonkwo (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) scored a game-high 19 points while senior Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) pitched in 16 points and senior Samantha McComb (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) chipped in with 10 points.
The Wildcats outrebounded Penn State by an astounding 25-9 margin in the first half of that game, eventually finishing with a 37-27 advantage in boards. Freshman Melissa Miller (Bloomington, Minn./The Breck School) pulled down a game-high eight boards for Northwestern.
The win snapped NU's 12-game skid against the Lady Lions dating back to 1997.
McComb leads the Big Ten with a .591 3-point field goal percentage in League games, 77 points better than OSU's Caity Matter in second place. Okonkwo currently ranks ninth in the Big Ten in scoring (17.0) and rebounding (6.6) in Conference games.
Purdue is led by Erin Lawless with her 14.8 points per game. Lawless attended Fenwick High School in Chicago, the same high school as NU's Kwasinski and sophomore Breanne Smilie (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Fenwick).
Katie Gearlds also averages double-digit scoring for the Boilermakers with 12.9 points per game while Emily Heikes paces Purdue with 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Looking Ahead
The Wildcats round out a stretch of five-consecutive games against ranked opponents when they travel to Michigan State on Feb. 3. Northwestern then returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a pair of games against Iowa (Feb. 10) and Indiana (Feb. 13).
The Series
All-Time Record: Purdue leads, 32-18
Last Meeting: 80-45, Purdue (Feb. 15, 2004)
Series Streak: 14, Purdue
