Jan. 31, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Minnesota Game Notes in PDF Format
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Date/Time: Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003/2 p.m.
Site: Minneapolis, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota
Arena/Capacity: Williams Arena/14,625
Series: vs. Minnesota-NU leads 30-14
Radio/TV: WNUR 89.3 FM/none
Internet: www.wnur.org (sports page)
Traveling to the Twin Cities
Northwestern takes to the road after suffering a 66-49 home loss to Wisconsin on Thursday. NU heads to the Twin Cities to take on the No. 15/14 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Big Ten's top scoring offense (84.2 PPG). Not only do the Gophers own the top spot in the Big Ten, but they are ranked second nationally. No. 1 Duke owns the top spot at 85.5 PPG.
Minnesota is led by All-American Lindsay Whalen, who ranks 11th nationally and second in the Big Ten with 22.9 points per game. She also tops the Big Ten in assists per game (127, 7.26) and is 20th in rebounding (96, 5.3).
With such a prolific offense, the keys to the game for Northwestern will be slowing down the Gophers and cutting down on costly turnovers. Along with fewer turnovers, NU needs to create more offensive opportunities with its defense. On the season, NU ranks last in steals per game (7.3).
The Wildcat defense as a whole is ranked fifth in scoring defense (63.5 PPG). In that same category, the Gophers rank ninth, giving up 67.9 PPG.
NU is led offensively by sophomore center Sarah Kwasinski. The Chicago native leads the team in most offensive categories, including steals in conference games (12). She has 27 take-aways on the season.