Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Western Illinois
'Cats Cruise By Westerwinds, 71-54
11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2008
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Meshia Reed (Country Club Hills, Ill./Stockbridge, Ga.) tallied a season-high 18 points and Amy Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) contributed 16 and 14 points, respectively, as Northwestern downed Western Illinois, 71-54, Saturday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Northwestern (2-3) faces Missouri (1-4) Sunday at approx. 3 p.m. in the final game of the DoubleTree White Invitational.
Western Illinois took an early 8-4 advantage thanks to a three-pointer by Amanda Walker at the 15:55 mark, but back-to-back treys by senior Erin Dickerson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) pulled the game to even at 10 with 13:44 remaining. But Western Illinois fought off any offensive surge NU could muster, maintaining the lead until the Wildcats' defense eventually fueled its offense. Two free throws from Katie Horsman with 10:35 remaining were the last points the Westerwinds would score for the next five minutes.
Meanwhile, Northwestern ran off 12 unanswered points to take a six-point advantage with just under six minutes remaining. Cartwright started the run with a pair of free throws followed by jumpers from Jaeschke and Reed to pull the score even at 20. Reed added a free-throw to give NU its first lead since the 16:49 mark.
Junior point guard Jenny Eckhart (Libertyville, Ill./Carmel) orchestrated a five-point swing of her own, nailing a three-pointer from the elbow extended, forcing a WIU turnover and hitting Meshia Reed in transition for the layup, prompting a timeout by the visitors with the score at 26-20.
Western Illinois responded with four unanswered points of its own to once again pull the score even, this time at 26.
Northwestern outscored Western Illinois 8-2 over the remaining four minutes to take a 32-28 edge heading into the break. Jaeschke and Cartwright led the 'Cats with eight points each.
The Westerwinds scored the first basket of the half to cut NU's lead to two, but the 'Cats answered by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to build their lead to 10 with 15:37 remaining in the game. A three-pointer by WIU's Katy Clark slashed NU's lead to seven, but a basket by Jaeschke followed by a layup from Cartwright set the Wildcat lead to 11. NU held strong and never let the lead get below double-digits the rest of the way.
Reed took over in the second half, pouring in 12 of her 18 points to spearhead the Wildcats' offense. The guard shot 70 percent from the field and was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe while also distributing five assists on the evening.
Jaeschke finished with a game-high eight boards while earning her 16 points on 8-of-12 from the floor. Eckhart dished out a season-high eight assists in the winning effort.
The Wildcats are next in action tomorrow when they meet Missouri at approx. 3 p.m. in its second and final game of the DoubleTree White Invitational. Holy Cross and Western Illinois will hit the hardwood in the first game of the day, starting at 1 p.m.
