Dec. 7, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's women's basketball team earned its 10th Mildred and Roger L. White Invitational title and its first since 1998 with a 57-43 victory over Alabama-Birmingham Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Tournament MVP Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) led the Wildcats with 16 points and four steals. Natalie Will (Nappanee, Ind./Northwood) added a season-high 15 points for Northwestern, which improves to 3-3 overall. Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) contributed nine points, five assists and four steals.
"When she (Natalie Will) scores in double digits, we win. She's a little gun shy, but she's got a nice stroke and she can take the ball to the basket. We're hoping that we can get more of that consistently from her the rest of the year."
NU's appearance in the championship game was its 18th in the 19-year history of the event and its 15th consecutive.
Trailing 19-17 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half, the 'Cats used an 11-0 run to close out the half and take a 28-19 halftime lead. Kwasinski scored six points during the run. Northwestern scored 16 points off of 14 UAB first-half turnovers.
"Defensively we did a nice job. Natalie (Will) really did a heck of a job in the first half. Kristen (Ambrose) came in and did a nice job on the boards, and as a team we played very well together."
The Wildcats protected the lead throughout the course of the second half, as the Blazers never got the deficit under seven points.
Michelle Smith led UAB with a game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds. NU had 15 assists in the game, compared to eight for the Blazers. The 'Cats also posted a season-high 13 steals.
Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Southern Illinois.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Sarah Kwasinski (MVP)-Northwestern
Samantha McComb -Northwestern
Chantell Thomas -Alabama-Birmingham
Natasha Thomas -Alabama-Birmingham
Michelle Smith -Alabama-Birmingham
Desiree Eidson -Central Michigan