Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Takes To the Road
2/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2006
Iowa Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern travels to Iowa City for a 7 p.m. tip against Iowa on Thursday. Four of Northwestern's last five regular-season games are on the road, as the Wildcats travel to Iowa and Indiana before a home game against Illinois. Penn State and Minnesota conclude the regular season.
NU is coming off their second conference win in the past four games, a 58-56 victory, over Wisconsin Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Senior Ifeoma Okonkwo scored the 1,000th point of her career in the triumph, and now has 1,005 points in her time in Evanston. The Hawkeyes are coming off a well-deserved bye on Sunday after handing league-leading Purdue its first conference loss of the season, a 77-71 win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"We are happy to have the chance to play Iowa again," said head coach Beth Combs. "We feel good about our play right now and it will be fun to get back on the court to see if we can make amends."
Last Time Out
Senior Ifeoma Okonkwo scored the 1,000th point of her career and contributed 20 points, boosting Northwestern to a 58-56 win over Wisconsin Sunday afternoon in front of an enthusiastic crowd celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
"I am thrilled with the way we played today," head coach Beth Combs said. "We have talked about finding another level of play. We needed to take our game to that level and we did that today. The hustle plays and rebounding are what helped us in the end. "
Wisconsin jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, thanks to a perfect 6-for-6 shooting effort in the first four minutes. The Badgers inflated the advantage to 12 at the 12-minute mark, but the Wildcats wouldn't go away, going on a 13-10 run over the last 7:15 to cut the lead to 34-29 at the break.
Northwestern ran off the first seven points of the half to take a 37-34 lead three minutes into the second half. Kristin Cartwright nailed a trey and A.J. Glasauer hit two free throws out of halftime to tie the game at 34. Okonkwo then downed a three to give NU the lead for the first time in the game.
Okonkwo scored the 1,000th point of her career on a layup -- her 15th point of the game -- at the 17:21 mark of the second half.
Wisconsin battled back to take the lead, 47-45 with 11 minutes left. The two teams echoed eachother's baskets over the next ten minutes.
Glasauer hit a jumper in the lane with 1:20 remaining to give Northwestern a 57-54 lead. The Badgers answered with a pair of free throws by Jolene Anderson to pull the NU lead to one.
Wisconsin had a chance to score with 13.3 seconds left, but Northwestern's defense caused two whiffs and Glasauer was fouled after rebounding the miss. She hit one free throw to extend the Wildcats' lead to 58-56. Wisconsin recovered Glasauer's second missed free throw as time ran out.
The Wildcats forced 15 Badger turnovers and converted them into 17 points, while only committing 11 miscues. Northwestern remained consistent from the free-throw line, connecting on 13-of-18 free throws.
Okonkwo also contributed six rebounds and three assists and two steals. She has now posted double-digits in 13 games this season, including five games of 20 points or better. Fellow upperclassman Glasauer added 17 points, a team-high four assists and four rebounds. Cartwright added a team-high seven rebounds, six points and three assists.
Scouting Iowa
The Hawkeyes are coming off a 77-71 upset of No. 8 Purdue last Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. No stranger to upsets, the Hawkeyes also defeated No. 9 Michigan State earlier this season. Iowa is led by senior Crystal Smith, whose scoring average (18.0 ppg) ranks third in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally. She has led Iowa in scoring 13 times this season. Freshman Megan Skouby is the only other Hawk in double digits, averaging 13.3 ppg.
The Series
Thursday's game will be the 49th meeting between Iowa and Northwestern, with the Hawkeyes holding a 36-12 advantage. Iowa defeated the Wildcats, 80-48, almost a month ago at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Freshman Lauren Roberts led the way for NU, recording a career-high 10 points while sophomore Nadia Bibbs also recorded a career-best eight rebounds.
Lean On Me
Sophomore Sara Stutz has started every game this season (and every game of her career), and leads the team in minutes, playing 32.6 minutes per outing. She already ranks sixth on NU's games started list, starting all 30 games last season. The sophomore also leads the team in three-point percentage, hitting 37 percent (26-of-70) from beyond the arc. For more notes, see the pdf at the top of this release.
