Feb. 2, 2013

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Northwestern (10-11, 2-6 Big Ten)
vs. #24/25 Iowa (16-6, 5-3 Big Ten)
Sunday, Feb. 3 • 1 p.m.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, Iowa)
Live Audio: WNUR, 89.3 FM (www.wnur.org)
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-Game Tweets: @NU_SportsLIVE

NU vs. Iowa Game Notes

SUNDAY’S GAME
Northwestern closes out its three-game week on the road, traveling to Iowa City, Iowa for a matchup with the Hawkeyes. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa enters Sunday’s contest ranked No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. NU went 1-1 in its previous two games this week, defeating Indiana 53-39 and falling in a close 67-62 game Thursday night against Michigan State.
 
HACKNEY TABBED CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT FOR THIRD YEAR
Senior forward Kendall Hackney received Capital One Academic All-District accolades for the third time in her Wildcat career. A communications studies major and two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Hackney will now be placed on the Academic All-American national ballot. She was selected as one of the District 5 winners by a vote of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
Student-athletes with sophomore athletic and academic standing that carry a 3.3 GPA or better are eligible for this distinction. Hackney has received the award every year since her sophomore season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern fought a hard battle against the Michigan State Spartans Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, but was unable to come out on top in the 67-62 MSU victory.  The ‘Cats played the Spartans, who came into Thursday’s game receiving votes in the latest Associated Press poll, close as there were five ties and nine lead changes.
 
Senior center Dannielle Diamant was the night’s top scorer with 21 points, two off her career high, seven rebounds and three blocks. Freshman forward Maggie Lyon saw 11 points, a career-high tying four steals, and four rebounds. Senior forward Kendall Hackney added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
The ’Cats started off hot with a 3-point shot from Lyon a mere 20 seconds into the first. Within the next four minutes NU scored seven more, putting them on a 10-0 run. Michigan State struggled to get on the board, submitting to five turnovers before a bucket by sophomore forward Becca Mills put them on the board at the 16:08 mark. Northwestern played lock-down defense, keeping the Spartans to just 22.2 percent from the field.
 
The game took on a more aggressive note as MSU picked up its defensive game. The game was tied four times, including at 20-20 before Northwestern regained control with sophomore forward Alex Cohen scoring a bucket and a three within two minutes. That sparked a 12-6 run by the ‘Cats to close the half as NU took the 32-26 lead into halftime. Diamant led the team with 11 points and three rebounds. Lyon had seven points and four rebounds.
 
The final two minutes of the game were down to the wire as Northwestern fought to close a five-point gap. With 13.1 seconds left Douglas shot a clutch 3-pointer, putting the score at 65-62 in favor of the Spartans, but MSU made its free throws down the stretch to secure the 67-62 victory.
 
TOUGH STRETCH
Sunday’s game at Iowa will be NU’s fifth opponent that has been ranked or receiving votes in the last seven games and also the sixth since the Wildcats’ began their Big Ten schedule on Jan. 3. NU kicked off the conference slate against Penn State, who was ranked No. 9 in both polls. After playing unranked Indiana on Jan. 6, NU then took on back-to-back foes featured in the polls as Illinois was receiving votes in the AP poll prior to the Jan. 10 game and Michigan was No. 25 in the AP poll and receiving votes in the USA Today poll on Jan. 17. Purdue was the fourth ranked opponent of the Big Ten slate with its No. 15/13 ranking and on Thursday, MSU came into the game receiving votes in the AP poll. Iowa’s No. 24/25 ranking marks the sixth ranked Big Ten opponent NU has faced and seventh overall (No. 9/11 California).
 
UPCOMING MILESTONES
Senior forward/center Dannielle Diamant grabbed her 500th career rebound Monday against Indiana and needs to play in one more game for No. 100. Kendall Hackney needs 56 more points to reach the 1,500-point milestone and 89 more points would tie her for ninth in all-time scoring with Amy Prichard, who had 1,533 points from 1980-83.
 
Several Wildcats are approaching significant statistical milestones:
 
Name                Milestone           Has             Needs
D. Diamant       900 points           869               31
D. Diamant 100 games played      99                  1
 
K. Hackney      1,500 points         1,444             56
K. Hackney     700 rebounds         650               50
K. Hackney       200 assists           157               43
 
K. Roser            500 points            437              63
K. Roser            300 assists            276             24
 
GENEROUS ’CATS
Northwestern continues to rank highly in the assist category amongst the Big Ten as the ’Cats’ 15.7 assists are good for fourth. Sophomore guard Karly Roser is one of the conference leaders with 6.4 dimes per game to rank second. She is nearly one assist better than Wisconsin’s Tiera Stephen and Nebraska’s Lindsey Moore, who are tied for third at 5.5 assists per game. Sunday’s game vs. Iowa will feature two of the best floor generals in the Big Ten as Iowa’s Samantha Logic leads the conference with 7.0 assists per game. NU freshman Maggie Lyon also contributes to NU’s assist total and her 3.4 average ranks 11th.
 
FEBRUARY 10 - NATIONAL GIRLS & WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
There’s still time to sign up for the National Girls and Women in Sports Day  (NGWSD) event at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 10! The second-annual event gives girls in the 4th-12th grades the unique opportunity to interact with Northwestern student-athletes, coaches and other prominent women working in the sports industry. ESPN’s Sarah Spain will provide the keynote address.
 
This event runs from 1:30-2:30 p.m., prior to the game vs. Ohio State. There will be roundtable discussions that feature various topics relative to women playing sports and working in athletics and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss these topics in a small group setting. Participants must pre-register for this event and can do so by picking up a flyer at an upcoming Northwestern women’s basketball game. Tickets for the event are just $3 for participants and family members and that price covers the event, as well as a ticket to the women’s basketball game.
 
Click here for more information.
 
SCOUTING IOWA
2012-13 Record: 16-6, 5-3 B1G
All-Time Series Record: Iowa leads 13-46
Of Note: After going 6-0 this season against ranked opponents, the Hawkeyes fell on the road at Illinois on Jan. 31st during their first game after making the national rankings. Iowa turned the ball over 27 times despite shooting better from the field and winning the rebound battle. This loss ended a three-game Hawkeye winning streak.
 
With four rebounds against Illinois, senior Morgan Johnson moved into seventh all-time in career rebounding at Iowa. She leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. Sophomore Samantha Logic recorded a double-double, tallying 13 points and 10 rebounds in the game against Illinois. It was the 10th double-double of Logic’s Hawkeye career.
 
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder is currently in her 13th season as head women’s basketball coach with the Hawkeyes and her 28th year overall. Under her direction, the Hawkeyes have advanced to 11 postseason appearances (nine NCAA and two WNIT), including NCAA Tournament berths in each of the last five seasons.
 

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