Two Northwestern athletes earned Big Ten recognition on Monday.

Northwestern women's basketball player Amy Jaeschke picked up All-Big Ten honors. Jaeschke, a senior center, made both the coaches' and the media's first team All-Big Ten.

And in softball, sophomore shortstop Emily Allard, earned her second career Big Ten Player of the week honor. Allard hit .588 in five games for the Wildcats last week and had three three-hit games.

On Sunday, former NU golfer Luke Donald won the PGA Tour's WGC-Accenture Match Play championship 3 and 2. Donald is now ranked third in the Official World Golf Ranking.

There's three games left in Northwestern's season. The Wildcats have to win all three to even be remotely considered for an NCAA bid and finish the Big Ten season at 9-9.

Thursday night Penn State comes to Welsh-Ryan Arena (8 p.m.) and the Wildcats are going to have to contain the Nittany Lions outstanding guard combo of Talor Battle and Tim Frazier. Since the Lions are small inside, their guards (Battle and Frazier) have had to step in and do some rebounding. NU may have a home-court advantage after dropping its earlier contest at Penn State Feb. 13, a 65-41 loss.

Then the Wildcats have to head north to Madison, Wis. for a date with the Badgers on Sunday at the Kohl Center, always a tough place to play. The fact that Wisconsin already beat  NU soundly on Jan. 23 (78-46) will probably still be on the Wildcats' minds, but they will have to push those bad memories out if they want to win their last regular season road game.

NU coach Bill Carmody said Monday that he isn't sure if sophomore guard Alex Marcotullio's thumb is dislocated, but since Marcotullio injured it his game "is on the rise."

For Northwestern to make its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament next month, it would seem that the Wildcats basically have to win every game remaining on their regular season schedule. As of now, coach Bill Carmody acknowledges that the Wildcats aren't being talked about for an NCAA bid. Getting to .500 in the Big Ten might help that talk, he said Monday.

"We're not in the discussion right now and we've played pretty decently of late," Carmody said. "I think it depends on how Michigan and Penn State go [this week]."

NU is at Michigan on Wednesday and at Penn State on Sunday. The Wildcats need to have a better February on the road than they did a year ago, when road losses in February hurt their chances at a tournament bid despite a school record 20-win season.

* In women's basketball news, Amy Jaeschke was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. Jaeschke averaged 25.5 points in two Wildcat victories last week against Illinois and Ohio State.

* The Wildcat men's golf team opens the season this weekend in Florida at the Big Ten Match Play Championships. NU will play Friday and Saturday at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens. The field is ranked 12^th strongest of any college tournament field this season.

If we're still stuck here in the snow and cold, at least the men's golf team can escape and get in some sun.

There is still no update on Northwestern's John Shurna, who suffered a concussion last week Wednesday. Team spokesperson Nick Brilowski said Tuesday that the team didn't practice so there was no reason to have Shurna evaluated. The last time Shurna was evaluated by NU medical personnel was a few hours before Saturday's Ohio State game, which the Wildcats lost 58-57 at Welsh-Ryan.

The Wildcats' next game is noon Saturday at Welsh-Ryan against Illinois.