Feb. 10, 2006
Indiana Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wildcats hit the road again this weekend, this time heading east to face Indiana at 1 p.m. CST on Sunday at Assembly Hall. Northwestern is coming off a 76-61 loss to Iowa while Indiana defeated Penn State 58-43 Thursday night.
Last Time Out
Freshman Kristin Cartwright and senior Ifeoma Okonkwo gave double-double efforts, but it wasn't enough as Iowa bested Northwestern 76-61 on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
"We need to finish ball games," head coach Beth Combs said. "We need everyone to show up every day because when they do, we're a pretty good ball club."
Okonkwo recorded her seventh double-double this season, a 14 point, 10 rebound effort. She now has 10 on her career. Cartwright produced the first double-dip of her young career, chipping in 13 points and 11 caroms on 5-of-12 shooting including a pair of treys. Junior A.J. Glasauer joined Cartwright and Okonkwo in double figures with 14 points.
The Hawkeyes scored the first nine points of the game but the 'Cats went on an 11-4 run to pull within a basket at the 10:50 mark. The Hawks inflated the lead to as many as 13 before NU pulled to within 8 - 34-26 at the half. Glasauer scored 10 of her 14 points in the first stanza. Northwestern's defense forced 11 Hawkeye turnovers, which NU converted into 12 points.
The Wildcats cut into the lead to start the second half, outscoring Iowa, 10-7. A layup by Cartwright cut the lead to three with 15:30 left in the game. Iowa spurted on a 17-9 run over the next eight minutes to push the lead to 10. The Hawks used that run to balloon the difference the rest of the way.
In the second half, the two teams made the same number of baskets, but Iowa went to the free throw line twice as many times (14 compared to NU's seven).
Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers are playing well this season, as evidenced by seven conference victories, the first time since the 2001-02 season IU has had that many wins in Big Ten play. Senior Jenny DeMuth recorded three steals against Penn State on Thursday, breaking the school career steal record (210). The Hoosiers are led by DeMuth who is second on the team with 13.9 ppg and is IU's leading rebounder with 7.5 rpg. Fellow senior Cyndi Valentin is leading the team with 17.5 ppg and ranks atop the conference in several categories, including minutes played (1st-35.33) and free throw percentage (2nd-.934).
The Series
Sunday's game will be the 55th meeting between these two teams. Northwestern leads the all-time series, 28-26, but Indiana has won the past three. Last time out against IU, Ifeoma Okonkwo, A.J. Glasauer and Sara Stutz all scored in double figures, but IU outlasted the Wildcats, 69-56 in Evanston. Okonkwo recorded one of her seven double-doubles on the season with 11 rebounds to accompany 14 points. Stutz provided a team-high 16 while Glasauer added 11.
Double Take
On Feb. 9 against Iowa, Ifeoma Okonkwo recorded the 10th double-double of her career and her seventh so far this season. With her 14-point, 10 rebound effort, she now needs only two more to crack NU's single-season top-five double-doubles list. She is tied for third in double-doubles in conference games with three. For more notes, please see the pdf at the top of this page.