Dec. 13, 2005
Western Michigan Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern hits the road after three-consecutive home contests, traveling to Kalamazoo, Mich. for a 6 p.m. (CT) game against Western Michigan.
"We are looking forward to the opportunity to play WMU," head coach Beth Combs said. "It is a good match up for us, and it will be good to see how we can regroup on the road after a tough home loss. We have had a good couple days of practice and need to bring that intensity to the floor Wednesday night."
Last Time Out...
Sophomore Nadia Bibbs scored a career-and team-high 15 points but it was not enough as Nebraska defeated Northwestern, 80-50, on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Nebraska opened the game on an 11-0 run, but an eight-point spurt -- aided by five points from Kristin Cartwright -- closed the gap to three at the 12-minute mark. The Huskers kept Northwestern at bay the rest of the first half to hold a 30-22 lead at the break.
Cartwright stepped up for the Wildcats in the opening stanza, recording three assists and seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.
The Huskers started the second half on a 13-4 run and never looked back, shooting nearly 42 percent from the field.
Ifeoma Okonkwo pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Cartwright led the team in assists with five on the afternoon.
Scouting the Broncos
The Broncos opened the 2005-06 campaign with four straight losses, but have since won their last two games --both of which have been on the road. On Sunday, WMU defeated Cleveland State, 94-77. Junior Carrie Moore became the 18th player in school women's basketball history to reach the 1,000- point plateau. The Broncos have already had a taste of Big Ten competition, as they faced No. 22 Purdue on Dec. 1. The Boilers won, 98-65 at Mackey Arena. WMU is led by junior Lindsey Brown, who is averaging 18.2 ppg and 9.7 rpg. Casey Rost and Moore are also scoring in double-figures, averaging 16.7 and 15.7 ppg, respectively.
"Rost is back and playing very well for them, and Moore and Brown are contributing big numbers, so this will be a great test for our team," Combs said.
The Series
Western Michigan and Northwestern will be meeting for the third time, but the second time in the last two years. Last year, the Wildcats defeated WMU, 64-60 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Upperclassmen Lead 'Cats
Senior Ifeoma Okonkwo and junior A.J. Glasauer have been a top the statistics so far this season. The two upperclassmen have scored 208 of NU's 471 points on the year. Okonkwo is shooting .594 from the field while nearly averaging a double-double with 14.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg. She has recorded three double-doubles through the first seven games of 2005-06. Meanwhile, Glasauer is averaging a team-leading 15.0 ppg and is second on the team with 25 assists. She is also shooting .412 (7-of-17) from the three-point line. For complete notes, please see the pdf at the top of this release.