Jan. 12, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Penn State Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Date/Time: Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003/2 p.m.
Site: Evanston, Ill./Northwestern University
Arena/Capacity: Welsh-Ryan Arena/8,117
Series: vs. Penn State-PSU leads 18-4
Radio/TV: WNUR 89.3 FM/none
Internet: www.wnur.com (sports page)
Offense vs. Defense
Northwestern heads back to the hardwood three days after suffering a 62-52 road loss at Indiana, a game in which NU led by seven at halftime. Enter the No. 16/17 Penn State Nittany Lions and the nation's third leading scorer; Kelly Mazzante, the Big Ten's leading scorer and Pennsylvania native, averages 26.4 points per game while leading the league in three-pointers made (42) and free throws made and attempted (90-for-109).
While Mazzante is destined to score her points-she has scored double figues in 75 of 79 career games-one of the biggest areas of emphasis will be to eliminate the scoring of her teammates. In all, Penn State travels eight student-athletes, and four of those players average more than 30 minutes per game. While that may be a lot of minutes to some teams, to Penn State it means a more prolific offense. Following its 86-52 win over Iowa on Thursday night, the Lady Lions have four players averaging double figures, and their offense is ranked in the top-5 nationally (84.5 ppg) .
NU's answer to a potent offense will be a stingy defense. According to the latest Big Ten stats (released on Jan. 10), the Wildcat defense ranks fourth in points allowed per game (60.7) and is holding opponents to meager 37-percent shooting from the floor, second in the conference.
Wildcat Quickies
* In Northwestern's 14th game of 2001-02, the Wildcats took then
No. 6-ranked Purdue down to the wire, falling 77-65 in the clos-
ing minutes of the game.
* Penn State is ranked No. 16/17 in the latest ESPN/USA Today/AP
polls. NU has not beaten a ranked opponent in head coach
June Olkowski's tenure.
* Melissa Culver and Leslie Dolland teamed up with Penn State
forward Jessica Brungo over the summer as the trio were part of
the Big Ten Women's Basketball Foreign Tour team. The squad
went 5-0 traveling through the Netherlands and Belgium.
* NU freshman Ifeoma Okonkwo has led the team in rebounding
the last two games. The Texas native is averaging 6.3 rebounds
per conference game, tops on the team. She grabbed a career-
high 11 boards at Indiana.
* Wildcat guard Samantha McComb needs eight points to reach
300 for her career.
* The Wildcats are 4-18 all-time vs. Penn State.
* Head coach June Olkowski is 0-6 vs. Penn State since her hiring
in 1999. The teams have played at Welsh-Ryan and PSU's Bryce
Jordan Center three times each in that span.
* Penn State has scored 1,268 points in 15 games this season com-
pared to 774 in 14 contests for Northwestern.
* The Lady Lions average 19.5 assists per game, while the Wildcats
own a 13.1 per game average.
* All three Lady Lion losses have come on the road. Northwestern
is 0-6 when away from Welsh-Ryan. The Wildcats beat Michigan
State 52-46 the last time they played at home.
* Each team has a total of 46 blocks on the season.
* Sarah Kwasinski, a sophomore, reached 500 career points when
she scored 18 against Morehead State in the first round of the
Denver Classic. She now has 569 all-time points.
* Penn State's junior guard Kelly Mazzante has scored 394 points
this year and 1,795 in her career. She has played 79 games as a
Lady Lion, a 22.7 points-per-game average.
* Leslie Dolland was voted team captain.
* Eleven of NU's 14 players hail from different states.
* Three of NU's four coaches have Div. I head coaching experience.
-Olkowski at Arizona, Butler and Northwestern
-Darling at the Air Force Academy
-Grennan at St. Joseph's (Pa.)
* Sue Darling spent two years (1996-97) working for the Seattle
Reign (ABL) as an assistant coach.
* Samantha McComb and Sarah Kwasinski are the only two
Wildcats to start every game this season.
* The eight three-pointers NU hit against Michigan State is a
season high.
* In its Big Ten home opener, the Wildcat defense held Michigan
State to season lows in points (46), field goals made (16), field
goal percentage (.281), free throws made (seven) and free throw
percentage (.500).
* Northwestern has held three of its 13 opponents under 30 per-
cent shooting from the field and nine teams under 40 percent.
* Prior to last week's win over MSU, NU's last Big Ten win was
against Minnesota (50-44) on Jan. 20, 2000.
* NU has not beaten Penn State since January 31, 1997, a 68-65
win at Penn State. That is a string of 10 games.