Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
'Cat Comeback Falls Short At Wisconsin, 70-63
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2005
MADISON, Wisc. -- Trailing by 20 points midway through the second half, Northwestern mounted a furious comeback Wednesday night at the Kohl Center, falling just short in a 70-63 loss to Wisconsin.
With the hosts leading 53-33 and 9:44 remaining in the game, NU turned up the heat defensively to make the Badger faithful sweat.
A jumper from freshman Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) kicked off a 20-7 Wildcat run over the next seven minutes. Sophomore A.J. Glasauer (Freiburg, Germany/Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium) contributed eight points to the run -- including six straight at one point -- while senior Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) poured in five and junior Ifeoma Okonkwo (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) had four. Senior Suzanne Morrison (Franklin, Mich./Detroit Country Day) hit a layup with 2:07 left to draw NU to within six at 60-54.
Jolene Anderson then hit a 3-ball to put a dagger in NU's comeback hopes and Wisconsin iced the game by hitting 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch.
"This game was the most fun I've had with this team in a while," NU Head Coach Beth Combs said. "We did not start how I would have liked but we finished like I wanted us to. It does not always show up on paper, but I am happy with our effort tonight."
The Wildcats forced seven of Wisconsin's 16 turnovers in the final 7:44 of the game. NU committed just 14 miscues, its lowest total since Dec. 30 at Minnesota.
Four Wildcats finished in double-figures, the fourth time Northwestern has accomplished that feat this season and the first time since Jan. 9 versus Illinois. Okonkwo and Stutz led NU with 14 points each while freshman Melissa Miller (Bloomington, Minn./The Breck School) and Glasauer both had 10 points.
Miller -- Northwestern's leading rebounder on the season -- has reached double-figures just one other time this season. Okonkwo also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to go with her 14 points.
With senior center Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) seeing just six minutes in a reserve role due to illness and NU's starters having trouble slowing down the Wisconsin attack, it was the play of the Wildcats' bench that sparked NU's late-game run.
Including Morrison, who usually comes off the bench behind Kwasinski but started this game, the Wildcats' reserves contributed 101 minutes in the game.
Sophomore guard Breanne Smilie (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Fenwick) played a season-high 29 minutes, dishing out a pair of assists and grabbing three boards while holding Wisconsin's high-scoring guard tandem of Anderson and Stephanie Rich in check to allow Northwestern's run.
"Breanne did an unbelievable job off the bench," Combs said. "It was great to see our bench players step up and contribute and have fun out there."
Smilie's previous game-high for minutes was 15 against DePaul on Nov. 27.
Northwestern closes out its regular season at 2 p.m. Sunday on Senior Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena against Minnesota.
