Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
DePaul
No. 18 DePaul Edges 'Cats, 74-66
12/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHICAGO -- Northwestern gave No. 18 DePaul more than it bargained for, but the Blue Demons pulled out a victory in the end, edging the Wildcats, 74-66, Wednesday afternoon at McGrath Arena. Four Wildcats hit the double-digit plateau as NU fell to 6-4 on the season.
"I'm pleased with our effort today," head coach Beth Combs said. "We just lost to one of the best teams in the country. We came out with a lot of intensity and made them play 40 minutes of basketball. I'm proud of our team today."
In front of a near-capacity crowd of Chicago-area grade-school children, DePaul had already posted 12 points on the board before Northwestern's found the scoring column at the 16:24 mark on a lay up by Nadia Bibbs (Chicago, Ill./Boston College).
Despite shooting just 18 percent in the first nine minutes, the 'Cats clawed back from an 18-point deficit and went on an 8-2 run to close out the first half and entered the break down by seven. Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) led NU with seven points at intermission.
The Wildcats sprinted out to a 10-4 run to open the second half, cutting the difference to 37-34. A jumper by freshman Kaitlin McInerney (Oak Brook, Ill./Benet Academy) and a layup by A.J. Glasauer (Freiburg, Germany/Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium) put Northwestern in front, 38-37 with 16:13 left in the game.
NU pushed its lead to five on a jumper by Julie Bielawski (Rogers, Ark./Rogers), but DePaul mounted an 8-point run, spearheaded by Allie Quigley's seven points.
But the Wildcats refused to give up, going on a 9-3 run with 5:50 remaining, after being down 12, to cut the lead to 65-60 with 2:15 left. DePaul showed why they are nationally-ranked, knocking down the shots when they needed to, keeping Northwestern at arm's length. The 'Cats once again reduced the margin to five with :18 seconds left but two DePaul layups put the game away.
Stutz finished with a team-high 15 points while also adding four rebounds and four assists. Bielawski and Glasauer both notched 12 points while Cartwright rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11. Bibbs contributed team-highs in assists (7) and rebounds (7).
Northwestern recovered from a 35 percent shooting effort in the first half to shoot 41 percent on the afternoon.
The Wildcats are next in action on Saturday, Dec. 16 when they travel to Nebraska for a 4 p.m. tip.
