Jan. 7, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Ohio State Buckeyes erased a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Northwestern, 66-61, Sunday afternoon in women's basketball action at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU led coming out of the half, 38-28, but OSU used a 17-point second half effort by Courtney Coleman to gain the lead with 8:52 left in the game, 52-50, and never trailed from there on.
The Wildcats stayed within five points of the Buckeyes down the stretch, but were hurt by fouls as Dana Leonard (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and Emily Butler (Greenwood, Ind,/Center Grove), the top two scorers for NU, each fouled out in the remaining minutes. Leonard, making her first start of the season, led the `Cats with 19 points, 13 coming in the first-half. Leslie Dolland (Bloomington, Minn./Blake) added 13 points and Butler put-up 12 points and dished out a career high nine assist.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 11-2 lead and remained in control of the game throughout the first 20 minutes. OSU had a hard time finding an answer for the lethal Butler-Dolland combination that ignited the Wildcats' offense. Butler found Dolland underneath the basket for an easy lay-up several times during the half. With the loss NU falls to 4-9 overall, 0-3 in the Big Ten.