Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
SIUE
Jaeschke, Diamant Lead 'Cats Past SIU-E, 68-37
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern took a 10-8 advantage on an early layup by junior Amy Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and never relinquished the lead, defeating Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 68-37 Friday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Jaeschke recorded her first double-double of the season--tallying 16 points and 15 rebounds--and freshman Dannielle Diamant (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) followed suit, notching a career-best 17 points and 10 boards.
"We did some good things defensively and we're playing with some confidence," head coach Joe McKeown said after the game. "Having Jaeschke and Diamant in there with their skills; we're just scraping the iceberg as far as what they can do."
It was clear that physical attributes were going to dictate the game plan for both teams with NU looking to pound the ball down low, while undersized SIU-Edwardsville took to playing on the perimeter. But both offenses came out of the gates sputtering until Northwestern found its rhythm thanks to Jaeschke, who scored six of NU's first 12 points to spark a 6-0 run and put NU up 14-8 with 11:35 left in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats combined full-court pressure with an active zone, holding the Cougars scoreless for five minutes and extending their lead to 18-10 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The Wildcats shot an outstanding 47 percent through the first 12 minutes and continued their accurate marksmanship throughout the rest of the stanza, converting on 44 percent of their looks. Northwestern held the Cougars to just 16 percent shooting from the field and just one basket in the paint through the opening 20 minutes.
Northwestern held Southern Illinois-Edwardsville to just 14 points in the first half, the lowest total of the McKeown era. Maggie Mocchi (Wheeling, Ill./Buffalo Grove) led all scorers with nine points in just eight minutes of action, connecting on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Jaeschke added eight points and seven rebounds while recording three blocks in the first frame.
Diamant opened the second-half scoring with a long-distance connection and forced the visitors to call a timeout. The Wildcats continued to roll offensively, outscoring SIU-E 38-23 in the second half to roll to victory.
Sophomore Brittany Orban joined Jaeschke, Diamant and Mocchi in double figures with 12 points.
The Wildcats are next in action on Sunday, Nov. 22, when they take on IPFW in a 3:30 p.m. contest. The game follows Northwestern men's basketball's game against Tennessee State, which tips at 1 p.m.
