Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
DePaul
Blue Demons Best Wildcats, 60-51
12/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2008
CHICAGO, Ill. -- Ellen Jaeschke (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) netted 17 points and Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) registered 15 but it was not enough as DePaul pulled away for a 60-51 win Sunday afternoon at McGrath Arena. Sophomore Amy Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the 'Cats.
Ellen Jaeschke notched seven of NU's first nine points and boosted the Wildcats to a 9-3 lead five minutes into the game. The Wildcats shot 62 percent from the field through the opening 12 minutes of the half, led by Jaeschke who nailed an outstanding 6-of-7 from the field. On the other side of the ball, Northwestern's tight defense forced the Blue Demons to work for every shot in the early going, holding DePaul to just 10 percent from the field in the first four minutes.
Amy Jaeschke picked up two fouls early, which enabled the Blue Demons to feed the ball down low to Natasha Williams, who scored five of the next six DePaul buckets.
DePaul took its first lead of the game with a minute left in regulation before baskets by Meshia Reed (Country Club Hills, Ill./Stockbridge (Ga.) and Ellen Jaeschke pushed the 'Cats lead to 30-27 at the break. Ellen Jaeschke led Northwestern with 15 points, while Cartwright added nine and grabbed a team-best five rebounds.
"I thought we did a great job in the first half of controlling the pace of the game. In the first half, we did everything right," head coach Joe McKeown said. "In the second half, they got their run and we just had that bad four-minute stretch and we couldn't bounce back."
DePaul opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take a three-point advantage with 15:28 left in the half. The Blue Demons extended their lead to 51-36 after Northwestern could only muster six points through the first 12 minutes of the game. A bucket by Erin Dickerson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) with 8:11 left ended NU's scoring drought.
After a basket by Felicia Chester at the 7:04 mark, Northwestern's defense held DePaul scoreless for nearly the next three minutes, which allowed the 'Cats to cut the lead to 10 with just over five minutes remaining. But DePaul kept the defensive pressure on and pulled away their ninth win of the season.
Northwestern shot 45 percent to the field compared to DePaul's 36 percent, but the Blue Demons capitalized on NU's 24 turnovers, turning them into 24 points.
The Wildcats turnaround and host Texas Southern Tuesday at noon before heading to Indiana for the Big Ten opener on Saturday, Dec. 20. Tip is set for 4 p.m. CT at Assembly Hall.
