November 26, 1998
DEKALB, Ill. - The Wildcats weathered a Northern Illinois rally in the second half, that saw the Huskies come back from as many as 26 points down, to cut NU's lead to 52-47 with 8:53 to play. Northwestern (2-2) had its finest free throw shooting performance of the season, sinking 14-of-18 foul shots in the time remaining, and finishing 27-of-36 for the game (.750). The 'Cats held on for a 74-60 victory at Evans Field House.
Northwestern shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half and seemed to have the game in hand, 43-17, with 2:05 left on the clock. The Wildcats got 15 points from sophomore guard Dana Leonard, including three 3-pointers, and 12 points from senior forward Kristina Divjak en route to a 43-24 halftime lead. Leonard was 6-for-6 from the field.
The Huskies (2-1) were held to a 30 percent field goal percentage in the first half, making only 9-of-30 shot attempts.
But they changed all that in the second half.
Northern Illinois began chipping away at the score. The defense caused Northwestern to miss shots and turn the ball over (10 times to be exact). By the 10:25 mark, the Huskies were only down, 52-42, and with 8:54 remaining, they got within five.
The Wildcats put the clamps on and began boxing out and hitting the boards. Divjak sank four free throws, while junior forward Leslie Schock hit a 17 footer and had an offensive putback to push the lead back up to 10 (60-50) with 6:07 remaining.
Sophomore center Tami Sears, who finished with a career-high 15 rebounds, pounded the glass in the final four minutes. She got an easy basket off an offensive rebound at the 4:18 mark and then she drew a foul when a Northern Illinois player went over her back for a rebound. Sears made both free throws to put Northwestern ahead by 13 at 2:59.
Divjak finished with a game-high 19 points. Fifteen of her markers came from the charity stripe. Senior guard Megan Chawansky had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Schock continued her strong play with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The high scorer for Northern Illinois was senior guard Amanda Reese, who totaled 19 points before fouling out with 41 seconds left in the game.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Huskies, 44-32.
Northwestern will next be in action on Tues., Dec. 1 when it hosts Loyola-Chicago at 7 p.m. at Welsh-Ryan Arena.