Jan. 9, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. -
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NORTHWESTERN (4-11, 0-4)
vs. Iowa (9-5, 2-2)
Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 10/7 p.m. CST
Site: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, Iowa)
Capacity: 15,500
Radio: None
Television: None
Back-to-back road games any time of the year can be hard, but when it's in the Big Ten it can really take a toll. Following a 77-51 loss to Ohio State last Sunday in Columbus, NU now travels to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500). It is the second and final regular-season meeting between the two teams-the Wildcats hosted the Hawkeyes back on Dec. 22, losing 74-47.
Head coach June Olkowski is 2-3 vs. the Hawkeyes since taking over the reins at Northwestern, and 0-3 against second-year Hawkeye head coach Lisa Bluder. Iowa holds a 29-12 all-time advantage vs. the Wildcats.
Back in December, the two teams kicked off the Big Ten season a week before the other nine teams, and Iowa used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Wildcats. The Hawkeyes had three players in double figures compared to NU's one and committed 10 fewer turnovers (29-19).
Iowa held NU to its lowest shooting percentage of the year (28.8) and shot 40.6 percent for the game, including seven three-pointers. The two teams had identical rebounding marks (45-45) a pattern that continued on both on the offensive (22) and defensive (23) side of the ball.
Northwestern was led by junior center Leslie Dolland, who came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points and pull down eight rebounds. Freshman Sarah Kwasinski had three of her team-leading 26 blocks in the team's first meeting and is currently third in the Big Ten in blocked shots per game (1.73). Iowa's Jerica Watson is atop the category averaging 2.54 blocked shots per game (33 on the year).
Iowa is coming off a 90-75 win over ninth-ranked Purdue in Iowa City. Iowa was led by Lindsey Meder who touched the Boilermakers for 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Jerica Watson came off the bench to score 15 points, block five shots, pull down eight rebounds and come away with four steals, all in 19 minutes of work.
Last Time Out vs. Iowa
Northwestern and Iowa opened the women's Big Ten season on Dec. 22 with the Hawkeyes coming away from Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 74-47 victory. Iowa had three players in double figures, led by senior Lindsey Meder with 16.
The Wildcats were led by junior center Leslie Dolland, who came off the bench and touched the Hawkeyes for a season-high 15 points. The Minnesota native also pulled down eight rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.
Iowa led from the opening tip as Iowa's Jenni Lillis hit two free throws just 10 seconds into the game. From there, Iowa jumped out to a 19-9 lead before NU went on an 8-0 run to make the score 19-17. That's as close as the Wildcats would get as Iowa outscored NU 21-9 to end the half.
Iowa put the game out of reach when they opened the second half with an 11-4 run to take a 51-30 lead.
Freshman Phenom
Sarah Kwasinski is on pace to be the first freshman in the school's 27-year history to lead the team in scoring. The Chicago native is averaging 11.3 points per game and the closest upperclassmen to her is junior Leslie Dolland who averages 6.1 points per game. The last freshman to end the season atop a statistical category was Michelle Zylstra in 2001 when she ended the year as NU's top shot blocker with 17.
Closing In
Junior center Leslie Dolland needs just 44 points to reach 400 in her career. The Minnesota native is averaging 6.1 points per contest.
Sultan of Swat
Fifteen games into the 2001-02 season, freshman Sarah Kwasinski is tied for ninth on NU's single-season list with 26 blocked shots. She needs six more to tie Tracie Diemer (1981-82 season) for eighth. Christina Braden owns the single-season record with 58 during the 1995-96 season.
Behind Enemy Lines
After not attempting any three-pointers in NU's first Big Ten game- a 74-47 loss to Iowa-freshman Melissa Culver has nailed 10-of-23 in the last three conference games. That's good enough to tie her for third on the Big Ten's 3-point FG made list (conference games only).
Swat Team
Comparing 2001-02 to 2000-01, NU has 14 more blocks after the first 15 games than it did a year ago. As of Jan. 6, NU has 50 blocks compared to 36 at the same time last year. The jump is due in large part to the arrival of 6-foot-5 freshman Sarah Kwasinski, who leads the team with 26 blocks.
D-D-D-Defense
Through 15 games, Northwestern is allowing just 64.5 points per game in scoring defense. That's good for fifth in the conference. Today's foe, Iowa, is ninth in that same category allowing 66.4 points per contest.
NU vs. IOWA
Series Record: Iowa leads 29-12
Last NU win: 3/2/00 (68-59)*
Last Iowa win: 12/22/01 (74-47)
Current Win Streak: Iowa-3 wins
In Evanston: 6-13
at Iowa: 4-15
Neutral Site: 2-1
Overtime Games: NU is 0-1
Series Notes: Olkowski is 2-3 against the Hawkeyes in her two-plus years.
* Win came in 2000 Big Ten Tournament