Wildcats Bow Out of Big Ten Tournament, 66-43
March 3, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Northwestern looked poised to pull the upset during the first half of its opening-round game Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament, but Illinois came out of the locker room on a tear to put an end to the Wildcats' season, 66-43. Senior Sarah Kwasinski (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) led Northwestern with 14 points and also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, giving her 634 boards for her career and making her NU's 10th-best all-time rebounder. Playing in their final games for the Wildcats, senior Samantha McComb (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) scored six points and contributed a pair of steals while senior Melissa Culver (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) had three points and a team-high three assists. Northwestern (5-25) began the game strong, holding the lead for most of the first half while holding Illinois to 37 percent shooting. The Wildcats' largest lead of the game was five points (19-14). Illinois went on a quick spurt just before the half, nailing a shot at the buzzer to go up by four (30-26) heading into the locker room. Seeming as though it could knock off the No. 7 seed, Northwestern suddenly went ice-cold from the field. The Wildcats missed their first eight shots of the half and finished just 7-of-30 (23 percent) in the stanza. NU shot 29.8 percent for the game. Meanwhile, Illinois went on a tear, hitting on 51 percent of its attempts from the floor and running away from the Wildcats to advance to Friday's quarterfinal round where the Illini will take on No. 2 seed Michigan State.
Junior Ifeoma Okonkwo (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) scored nine points in the game and finishes the season with an 11.6 points per game average, best on the team. Freshman Melissa Miller (Bloomington, Minn./The Breck School) also pulled down seven rebounds and finishes with a 6.0 per average to pace NU.
McComb, the Wildcats' floor general and leader in minutes all season, concludes her senior campaign with a team-best 111 assists. |
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