Jan. 3, 2005
NU Games Notes vs. Michigan in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern welcomes the University of Michigan to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday in a battle between a pair of squads looking for their first wins in conference play. The Wildcats are coming off a last second 62-60 loss to Wisconsin while the Wolverines were handed a 70-60 defeat by intrastate rival Michigan State in their last contest.
NU came inches from knocking off the Badgers Sunday, but senior Melissa Culver's (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) running 40-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer banked into the cylinder spun down and around before falling out. Senior Samantha McComb (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) led the `Cats with 14 points in the game--including a perfect 4-for-4 performance from behind the arc. Freshman Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) contributed 13 points while sophomore A.J. Glasauer (Freiburg, Germany/Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium) scored 10 for NU.
With her perfect performance from 3-point land, McComb became just the third Wildcat in school history to make all of her attempts from behind the line in a single game (minimum of four attempts).
Junior Ifeoma Okonkwo (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) fell just one point shy of a double-double in the contest, recording nine points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Freshman Melissa Miller (Bloomington, Minn./The Breck School) continues to be Northwestern's leading rebounder, ranking eighth in the Big Ten with 7.8 per game. Her 5.73 defensive rebounds per contest put her fourth in the conference in that category.
Michigan enters Thursday's tilt with a 4-9 record, 0-2 in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have played two common opponents with Northwestern, losing to Charlotte, 60-47, and Western Michigan, 79-62. The Wildcats also fell to the 49ers, but defeated WMU, 64-60.
UM has an extremely young squad with seven freshmen, one sophomore and two seniors. One of those seniors, Tabitha Pool, leads Michigan with 17.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Freshman Ta'Shia Walker is the only other Wolverine averaging double-figures, with 13.5 points per contest.
Looking Ahead
Northwestern is now fully into the Thursday-Sunday rotation of the Big Ten schedule. The Wildcats will close out their three-game home stand Sunday against Illinois before hitting the road Jan. 13 for a 7 p.m. game at Indiana.
The Series
All-Time Record: NU leads, 30-17
Last Meeting: 73-55, Michigan (Feb. 26, 2004)
Series Streak: 2, Michigan