Southern Illinois University
0-8
Northwestern
6-3
Women's Basketball Falls to Northwestern, 56-41
12/20/2003 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2003
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Four of Southern Illinois' (0-8) five starters shot just 3-of-21 combined, as the Salukis went ice cold from the field in a 56-41 loss to Northwestern (6-3) earlier today at SIU Arena. SIU also went scoreless for nearly 12 minutes in the game.
The loss marked SIU's sixth straight to NU, who has defeated the Salukis by double digits in all of those contests.
SIU opened the first half with six straight misses. While the Salukis struggled to put points on the board, NU jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Okonkwo scored six points to fuel the rally.
Five minutes and forty-six seconds of scoreless basketball later, Katie Berwanger hit a layup for the Dawgs' first bucket of the game. Berwanger's easy deuce started a span of six straight points, as she single-handedly brought SIU to within 11 (17-6) at the 9:56 mark.
A Melissa Culver three-pointer would give the Wildcats a hefty 24-8 cushion with 8:03 remaining, but Berwanger scored four more points as part of a 10-0 SIU run which cut NU's lead to 24-18 (3:45).
A conventional three-point play by Okonkwo just 33 seconds later then helped the Wildcats to a 31-20 lead at the intermission.
NU heated up for an early .500 (12-of-24) field goal percentage which outweighed SIU's quiet .259 (7-of-27). The Salukis also had trouble finding the basket from long range, where they hit just one trey in thirteen attempts.
Unfortunately for SIU, things would only get worse in the second half. The Salukis remained frigid from the floor, and as a result, missed their first 10 shots, including a pair of free throws. SIU also went scoreless for 7:33 before a three-pointer by Danette Jones broke the drought with 12:27 left to play.
Once again, NU took advantage of SIU's shooting woes. The Wildcats went on a 10-0 run to take a 41-20 lead. NU would match its 21-point lead on one other occasion before it coasted to the 56-41 win.
Berwanger collected her third double-double of the season, as she was all of SIU's offense. Shooting 10-of-12 from the field, she tied a career-high with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. As for the four other starters, Stephanie Brown and Dana Pinkston each shot 1-of-5, Tiffany Crutcher shot 0-of-1 and Jones hit 1-of-10.
Okonkwo led the Wildcats with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
SIU knocked down just 3-of-20 from three-point range and shot 34 percent (16-of-47) for the game. Meanwhile, NU hit 50 percent (22-of-44) of its shots.
The Salukis will break for the holidays until Dec. 29, when they travel to Saint Louis. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
