Feb. 10, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Minnesota defeated Northwestern in women's basketball action, 86-78, Sunday afternoon in front of NU's largest home crowd of the year (1,020).
"It seems like we play our best basketball against tournament-bound clubs," said head coach June Olkowski. "We did a lot of shifting and helping, and they got a lot of second-chance points because of that. In crunch time, the last two or three minutes, we had trouble executing. That's our inexperience."
Lindsay Whalen scored 22 points as Janel McCarville and Kim Prince each added 16 points for the Golden Gophers (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten). Minnesota outscored Northwestern 10-3 in the game's final two minutes to seal the victory.
Freshman Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) scored 22 points to lead Northwestern (4-19, 0-12).
Minnesota led 39-38 at halftime and started the second half with a 7-2 run, but Northwestern cut the lead to 46-42 when Kwasinski hit a fastbreak layup at 17:11.
Later, Northwestern's Natalie Will (Nappanee, Ind./Northwood) tied it at 65 with a 3-pointer with 8:27 to play. Kwasinski then gave the Wildcats the a 67-65 lead with a short jumper at 6:48.
Minnesota went on a 6-0 run, but again Northwestern came back, cutting the lead to 76-75 when Samantha McComb (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) hit a 3-pointer with 2:21 left. McComb finished with a career-high 18 points and was 5-for-9 from behind the three-point arc.
"I thought this was a breakout game for Sam," said Olkowski. "She had knee surgery in the summer, and this is the form she should have been in to begin the season. Sam is a good scorer and she'll only get stronger as her career progresses."
Northwestern shot a season-best 52.5 percent from the floor, including an 8-for-11 start to the second half. Four Wildcats finished in double figures, setting another team season high.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.