Nov. 2, 2008
2008 Big Ten Tournament Bracket
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fresh off its 3-1 victory against Indiana, head coach Kelly McCollum and the Wildcats learned their Big Ten Tournament fate for their upcoming trip to Bloomington, Ind. Sixth-seeded Northwestern opens postseason play against Michigan State, the No. 3 seed, Thursday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m. CT.
Saturday against Indiana, NU won its first Big Ten game since Sept. 30, 2006, on the strength of second-half goals by senior Alexandra Quinn and junior Courtney Plaster-Strange. Northwestern and IU both finished conference play with 1-5 league records, but NU earned the No. 6 seed thanks to its head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Hoosiers.
NU last met Michigan State on Oct. 10 when the Spartans, ranked No. 12 nationally, managed a 3-1 win at Lakeside Field. Should Northwestern advance past the Spartans, it will play the winner of the opening round contest between No. 2 Iowa and host Indiana on Friday.
The Big Ten Network will televise the semifinal and championship matches of the tournament.
To gear up for the start of the postseason, fans of Northwestern field hockey can catch one of their own featured on the Big Ten Network on Monday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m. CT. On this week's edition of the Big Ten Women's Show, Alexandra Quinn teaches and demonstrates the basics of the field hockey hit for BTN analyst Kara Lentz on the show's weekly Inner Circle segment.