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| 01-28-2005 | Previous edition: 01-27-2005 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Rebuilding Northwestern team hosts struggling Boilermakers
Senior Writer Beth Combs knows she took over a bad program. The first-year Northwestern coach has one Big Ten win this season. That’s more victories than two of the previous five seasons when the Wildcats went winless in conference play. "I’m not sure that there is anything I did not know," she said. "We know where this program is." And when the Purdue women’s basketball team takes on the Wildcats at 3 p.m. Sunday in Evanston, Ill., Combs will see a team she wants hers to be. "This season for us has really been about getting better for us and getting more important in this league," Combs said during Tuesday’s Big Ten teleconference. "It’s been obviously a privilege to coach against (these league coaches). (I want to) get people to recognize and respect Northwestern." A victory over Purdue (11-8, 4-4 Big Ten) would get people to recognize the Wildcats but that would mean stopping an eight-year drought to the Boilers. The Wildcats (5-16, 2-6) are led by junior forward Ifeoma Okonkwo and senior center Sarah Kwasinski, both of whom average 12.6 points per game. Combs is pleased with Okonkwo’s play. "She has the potential to be a great player," Combs said. "For her, it has been a mental struggle to know that it is OK to step up and carry the team on her shoulders." Along with Okonkwo, Combs said that her other players have shown improvement this season. Three players average double figures in scoring and four players average over 4.8 rebounds per game. Combs thinks that her team has shown improvement in recent weeks, including the team’s lone victory in the Big Ten — a seven-point victory over Michigan in early January. "I think what we’ve found in the last few weeks is that a few players have been consistent," Combs said. "What we need to do though, being a team that is rebuilding, we need players to be ready to play each game." One of the Wildcats’ inequities is defensive pressure. Northwestern gives up 71.9 points a game this season and 43.3 percent shooting. The Boilermakers have struggled on offense in their last five games, as they have scored an average of 59.6 points per game in a stretch where they played four of the best teams in the Big Ten and Notre Dame, which is in the top 10. Coach Kristy Curry has seen one player improve on the offense this season — freshman forward Linsday Wisdom-Hylton. She is the team’s leading scorer in the last five games. Wisdom-Hylton has scored in double figures in the last six games and has started all of those games. Curry is pleased with her freshman forward. "Wisdom is someone who I think is really is going to be special," Curry said. Freshman guard Brina Pollack has also started in recent games and Curry likes her progress. "We love their contributions," Curry said. "I’m thrilled with Brina Pollack at the one. You have to have good guard play." Printer-friendly version |
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