Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Seniors play last regular-season game, help Huskies to victory
Youngblood, Davis finish with 18 and 15 points, respectively
Article by:
Adam Zolmierski - Sports Reporter
• azolmierski@northernstar.info
The Huskies senior class of 2004 was awarded before the game with flowers
and a plaque and rewarded after the game with an 82-62 win over rival
Ball State.
Jennifer Youngblood, Lindsay Secrest, Monique Davis and Stephanie Smith
combined for 47 of the team’s 82 points.
“I’m real proud of my team, especially my seniors,”
NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “Going into the Ball State game,
a couple of my seniors said there’s no way we’d lose the Ball
State game or they’d shoot themselves.”
Youngblood had 18 points and 12 rebounds for her ninth double-double
of the season and 36th of her career. The Rock Island native also added
four assists.
“Jennifer has carried them all four years of her career,”
Ball State coach Tracy Roller said. “When Jennifer Youngblood refuses
to get stopped, it’s tough to beat them.”
Youngblood needs nine rebounds in the MAC tournament to move into fourth
place on the all-time rebounding list for NIU and needs five rebounds
to become one of five players to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds
in her career.
She is also fifth in MAC career rebounds, while starting every game
as a Huskie.
Youngblood said it’s hard for her to think of herself in the upper
echelon of NIU women’s basketball players, but she said she knew
when she came to NIU that she and her fellow freshmen would make an
impact.
“I think that we knew we wanted to do something,” Youngblood
said. “We all pretty much had the same attitude that we were going
to do it. I think what helped the most was staying together and holding
each other responsible for maintaining that attitude.”
Point guard Monique Davis started for the first time since Dec. 2 and
scored 15 points and added two steals. She needs three assists to move
into the eighth spot all-time for assists at NIU.
Secrest shot 3-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-7 from three-point
range and had five steals. She will finish her Huskies career second
in three-point field goals made behind Denise Dove (1987-91) with 221.
As the only senior who didn’t start, Smith scored six points and
and grabbed three rebounds in 17 minutes.
With the win, the Huskies earned a first-round home game in the MAC
tournament on Saturday against Ball State, giving the Huskies seniors
one last chance to play in front of the home fans.
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