Nov. 3, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. - When Northwestern and Illinois kick off Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. (12:30 Central) on Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium's turf, it will mark the second meeting between the Big Ten's Illinois-based schools in less than two weeks.

A lot more is riding on this match than the previous one, however.

Click here for complete Big Ten Tournament info!

In that first match -- which ended as a 0-0 draw -- both teams were closing out the conference campaign already assured a berth in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, and were playing merely for seeding.

This time, the match is PART of the Big Ten Tournament. Winner moves on. Loser goes home.

No pressure, though.

"We have had a lot more time to prepare for Illinois this time around," said NU head coach Jenny Haigh, whose team -- the fifth seed -- is appearing in the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in her four-year tenure. "We have gotten some quality work done to prepare for this match and this weekend. I feel like we are in a good place.

"Playing them so recently can work both ways, and I think the positives and negatives kind of cancel each other out," she continued. "Illinois is a good team, but I look forward to having another good match with them. A match like this fuels what I think is already a pretty good rivalry -- a lot of the players know each other on these teams. Both teams will be getting after it."

There figure to be few surprises on the Wildcat side of the ball. Haigh has found her lineup, going with the same starting 11 in the last seven matches and shortening the bench as the season has gone on. Is she excited for this weekend? You bet.

"I can't wait to get going," she said. "I feel like we have a better team than we did three years ago going into this, and I am excited to see us take the field."

The winner of Thursday's match will play the winner of top-seeded Penn State and eighth-seeded Indiana Friday at 4:30 p.m. (3:30 CST). The Big Ten Tournament final is Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (1:30 CST) and will be televised live on College Sports Television (CSTV). The winner of the Big Ten Tournament receives the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

2004 BIG TEN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All Matches at Ohio State * All Times Central
Thursday, Nov. 4
#1 Penn State vs. #8 Indiana, 9:30 a.m.
#4 Illinois vs. #5 Northwestern, 12:30 p.m.
#2 Ohio State vs. #7 Purdue, 3:30 p.m.
#3 Michigan vs. #6 Wisconsin, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 5
Penn State/Indiana winner vs. Illinois/NU winner, 3:30 p.m.
Ohio State/Purdue winner vs. Michigan/Wisconsin winner, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 7
Big Ten Tournament final, 1:30 p.m. (live on CSTV)

NU Big Ten Tournament Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader