The ninth-ranked Northwestern women's tennis team cruised to a 7-0 win over Minnesota today at the Baseline Tennis Center, to win for seventh time in the last eight matches and remain undefeated in conference play. The Golden Gophers (3-14, 0-5 Big Ten) went 0-3 in doubles and 0-6 in singles to see their losing streak reach 10 matches and suffer their first shutout since Feb. 4 at Denver.

Northwestern (14-4, 5-0) opened the dual with a sweep of the three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. The Wildcats cruised to an 8-0 win at No. 3, but the Golden Gophers led early at both Nos. 1 and 2. At No. 1, Minnesota's Ida Malmberg and Nischela Reddy led 5-4, but NU's Feriel Esseghir and Cristelle Grier won the next four games to win 8-5. At No. 2, Danielle Mousseau and Mariana Spilca sprinted out to a 4-1 lead over Alexis Conill and Georgia Rose, but the Wildcat duo bounced back to win 8-5.

Northwestern rolled to the team victory in singles play with convincing wins at Nos. 5, 2 and 1. At No. 5, Nazlie Ghazal shut out Jane Anderson, 6-0, 6-0, followed by 44th-ranked Georgia Rose's 6-0, 6-0 win over Malmberg at No. 2 to put NU up 3-0. The Wildcats clinched the team win at No. 1 with eighth-ranked Cristelle Grier's 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Reddy. With the loss, Reddy fell to 10-7 this spring, 4-1 in the Big Ten and 2-3 vs. ranked opponents.

Minnesota fought Northwestern close at Nos. 3 and 4, but the league-leading Wildcats prevailed to push their advantage to 6-0. At No. 3, Jamie Peisel downed Danielle Mousseau, 6-3, 6-2, while Feriel Esseghir out-lasted Mariana Spilca, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4. The dual wrapped up at No. 6 as Alexis Conill rallied from a 6-2 loss to Marina Bugaenco in the first set, with 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) in the second two sets to complete the sweep.

The Maroon and Gold wraps up its four-match homestand tomorrow with a dual against Wisconsin at 12 p.m., at the Baseline Tennis Center.

Minnesota vs. #9 Northwestern
April 8, 2006
Baseline Tennis Center
Minneapolis, Minn.

Singles
1. #8 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. Nischela Reddy (MN), 6-0, 6-1
2. #44 Georgia Rose (NU) def. Ida Malmberg (MN), 6-0, 6-0
3. Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Danielle Mousseau (MN), 6-3, 6-2
4. Feriel Esseghir (NU) def. Mariana Spilca (MN), 6-4, 6-4
5. Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Jane Anderson (MN), 6-0, 6-0
6. Alexis Conill (NU) def. Marina Bugaenco (MN), 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
Order of finish: 5,2,1,3,4,6

Doubles
1. Esseghir/Grier (NU) def. Malmberg/Reddy (MN), 8-5
2. Conill/Rose (NU) def. Mousseau/Spilca (MN), 8-5
3. Ghazal/Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Rohrer/Tellefsen (MN), 8-0
Order of finish: 3,1,2

#9 Northwestern def. Minnesota, 7-0