Nov. 7, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Despite a valiant comeback, the Northwestern women's basketball team fell to the Hungarian club team Soproni Postas SK, 70-68, Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Wildcats finished the exhibition season 1-1, and will open up the regular season Nov. 19 when Northern Illinois comes to Evanston.
In a game full of runs by both sides, it was Soproni Postas that emerged on top. Early on, it did not look like it would work out that way. Northwestern was up, 12-2, after just four minutes, and after the Hungarians drew back within two (12-10), another 'Cat run put the lead back up to 10 at 26-16.
In the final three minutes of the half, however, Soproni Postas went on a 10-0 run, tying the game at 26 by halftime. The Hungarians then came out with a 20-8 streak to begin the second stanza, which made the score 46-34 with 12:57 to play.
Northwestern dug deep ? or rather, shot deep. Leonard dropped in a trio of treys around a Clarissa Flores layup, sparking a 16-3 run that gave NU the lead at 50-49.
The Hungarians answered with a 9-0 run that put them back up, 58-50, with six minutes to play. That lead stretched as Soproni Postas continually got behind the Wildcat defense for easy layups, and with less than four minutes to play the score was 65-52.
Once again, Northwestern clawed back. Led by five points from Sears, the 'Cats scored seven points in a row before Postas' Krisztino Szemeredi hit a layup to make the score 68-59. The Hungarians' inability at the foul line nearly cost them, as four trips to the charity stripe yielded just two points. NU, meanwhile, got foul shots from Sears and 3-pointers from Sara Jurek and Leslie Schock to make the score 70-67 with seven seconds to play.
Another missed foul shot by the Hungarians resulted in an over-the-back call, and put Sears at the line for two. She hit the first and missed the second, but Nicole Daniels claimed the rebound. Her fallaway effort was no good, and Postas' Eszler Biro got the board. She was fouled and missed both of her shots with 2.4 seconds left, but NU could not get a shot off in time to tie or win.
Sears had nine boards to go with her 20 points. For Soproni Postas, Szemeredi had 20 points and six boards, while Eszler Bakai added 16 points.