Jan. 17, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Ohio State Game Notes in PDF Format
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Date/Time: Sunday, Jan. 19, 2003/noon
Site: Evanston, Ill./Northwestern
Arena/Capacity: Welsh-Ryan Arena/8,117
Series: vs. Ohio State-OSU leads 24-15
Radio/TV: WNUR 89.3 FM/FOX Sports Chicago
Internet: www.wnur.org/sports
Back to the Buckeyes
Is the second time the charm? Northwestern sure hope's so. The Wildcats and Buckeyes meet for the second time this season, but the first time in 2003. The 'Cats dropped an 82-49 decision at Value City Arena in Columbus on the last day of 2002, and with each new year comes a fresh new start, right? NU seems to think so, as the 'Cats went ahead and began 2003 by snapping a 43-game Big Ten regular-season losing streak, taking down Michigan State (52-46) on Jan. 2.
But after disappointing losses at Indiana (62-52), at home against Penn State (79-63) and at Iowa (72-60), the 'Cats are looking to improve on their first showing against Ohio State.
A major factor in the first meeting was turnovers. The Buckeyes forced NU into 26 miscues while limiting themselves to just 12 in the game. Those 26 giveaways are well over its 17.3 per-game average. In that game, the Buckeyes shot over 50 percent and hit seven three-pointers in the game. NU hit only 3-of-its-14 three-point attempts and shot just over 40 percent for the game.
The Buckeyes are coming off a road win at Wisconsin (57-42), moving them into a second-place tie in the Big Ten standings while the Wildcats (1-4) fell to ninth. Only Penn State (4-1) and Northwestern have played five conference games.
'Cat Nips
* Northwestern outrebounds Ohio State 34.6-to-34.3 per game,
according to the latest Big Ten stats. NU ranks 10th, OSU 11th.
* Sarah Kwasinski is NU's leading rebounder (7.3 pg). OSU's
Courtney Coleman leads the Buckeyes' averaging 6.9 per game.
* Samantha McComb has scored double figures in five straight
games, including a career-high 21 vs. then-No. 24 DePaul
(1/4/03).
* Opponents hit only 39 percent of their shots when playing the
Wildcats, that mark is good enough for second in the Big Ten (all
games). The 'Cats are fourth (.310) in three-point field goal per-
centage defense.
* Freshman Ifeoma Okonkwo leads the Wildcats with eight steals
in five conference games. Ohio State's Kim Wilburn leads the Big
Ten with 17 take-aways in OSU's four league games.
* Ohio State's Caity Matter is second in the Big Ten in three-point
field goals made (16), averaging 4.0 trifectas per game in con-
ference play. NU's Samantha McComb is tied for seventh (eight),
averaging 1.6 per league game.
* Both teams have beaten Michigan State and lost to Indiana.
* NU averages 16.6 fouls per game compared to 13.5 for OSU.
* NU is shooting 73 percent (177-for-242) from the free-throw line
overall and 59 percent (39-for-66) in Big Ten action.
* Sarah Kwasinski is second in blocked shots in conference action.
She currently has 10 throw-backs in five games.
* Melissa Culver and Leslie Dolland teamed up with OSU guard
Caity Matter over the summer on the Big Ten Women's
Basketball Foreign Tour team. The squad went 5-0 traveling
through the Netherlands and Belgium.
* NU freshman Ifeoma Okonkwo and Sarah Kwasinski lead the
team in rebounding in conference play. They are each averaging
6.0 rebounds per conference game. Okonkwo grabbed a career-
high 11 boards at Indiana.
* Wildcat guard Samantha McComb reached 300 points in her
career when she scored 10 points vs. Penn State on Jan. 12.
* 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 593 all-time points.
* 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 (1/2/03)
is a season high.
* In their 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 15 opponents under
30 percent shooting from the field and 10 teams under
40 percent.
* Prior to the win over MSU, NU's last Big Ten regular-sea-
son win was against Minnesota (50-44) on Jan. 20, 2000.