Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Penn State
'Cats Edged By Lady Lions, 72-64
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2006
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Senior Ifeoma Okonkwo (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) dumped in 27 points but it wasn't enough as Penn State edged Northwestern, 72-64, in an exciting contest Thursday evening at the Bryce-Jordan Center.
"I'm proud of the way our ball club played tonight," head coach Beth Combs said. "After our performance earlier this season against Penn State, I don't think that anyone was expecting us to come out and perform the way we did. I thought it was a good game against a team that is a lot better than their record indicates. I'm very proud of our program."
Both teams seemed to show affects of having a week off leading up to the game, as neither squad scored until Okonkwo hit a layup at the 17:01 mark to break the scoreless stretch.
The score was tight in the early going and just when it looked like Penn State was about to pull away, NU knocked down a spurt-stopping shot. Junior A.J. Glasauer (Freiburg, Germany/Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium) hit two big three pointers to suffocate early runs by the Lady Lions, including cutting a six-point deficit in half at the 7:57 mark.
The Wildcats sent Penn State to the free-throw line 19 times in the first half, boosting the Lady Lions to a 37-28 advantage at the break. Okonkwo led all scorers with 10 points in the first stanza.
NU jumped out to a 5-0 run in the opening minute to pull to within 37-33 and kept battling despite being plagued by foul trouble. The 'Cats utilized a solid 14-4 run in the heart of the second stanza, highlighted by eight-straight points from Okonkwo to take a 52-51 lead with 8:56 remaining.
The senior single-handedly kept Northwestern in the game, scoring 17 of her game-high 27 points in the second half.
In a game that saw 11 lead changes, PSU went on an 18-12 run over the next eight minutes to take the lead and hit free throws in the final minute to hold on to the win.
Northwestern was 28-of-64 from the field, good for nearly 44 percent compared to the Lady Lions' 40 percent. The difference in the game came at the charity stripe, where PSU was awarded 38 free throws -- the most NU has allowed all season - compared to the Wildcats' five.
NU also won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Lady Lions 32-30 down low.
In addition to her 27 points, Okonkwo finished with a season-high four blocks, five assists and four steals. She was 12-of-24 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) pulled down six rebounds to lead NU on the boards. She also chipped in nine points while playing 38 minutes.
Northwestern wraps up the regular season at 2 p.m. on Sunday when it travels to No. 21 Minnesota. The Wildcats will then head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament March 2-6 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
