Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
'Cats Snare Badgers, 68-62
1/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- Over the course of a basketball game, there is usually a defining play, a moment or consecutive moments that can be identified as dictating the outcome. For Northwestern Sunday afternoon, it was a 17-2 run coming out of halftime, which gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game--a 10-point cushion--from which Wisconsin could not recover. NU emerged victorious, 68-62, from the Kohl Center, handing the Badgers just their second loss in the last eight games, while improving to 13-9 overall.
Amy Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) led the way, recording her fourth double-double of the season with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance, while Kendall Hackney (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) added 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and six rebounds for the 'Cats. Brittany Orban (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) finished with 11 points, six boards, three steals and three assists.
The last time Northwestern recorded 13 wins in a season was during the 1995-96 campaign. It was also just the second time this season UW has dropped a conference outing.
Coming into Sunday's game, Northwestern expected a defensive battle given the fact that Wisconsin is limiting its opponents to just 52 points per game. That trend proved to be true in the first half, as Wisconsin inched out to a 10-3 lead in the first six minutes, fueled by four points from senior Rae Lin D'Alie. A Jaeschke bucket followed by an NU-induced miscue yielded a Meshia Reed lay-in, making it a one-possession affair at the 11:20 mark.
The Badgers strung together a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to jump ahead, 19-7. A triple by Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) ended the run, and three minutes later, a jumper from Jaeschke ignited a 9-2 Wildcat run, which hacked the Badger lead to six, 28-22, with 2:09 remaining. Northwestern mustered one more point than Wisconsin in the final two minutes to set the halftime score at 32-27.
Jaeschke led NU with nine points and eight boards.
Northwestern exploded out of the locker room with unprecedented offensive tenacity, scoring on its first three possessions to pull the game to within one, 34-33, in the first two minutes.
Using extremely active full-court pressure, Northwestern silenced Wisconsin through the next three minutes and forced three Badger turnovers on three-consecutive possessions, while composing a 13-2 run thanks to a perfect 9-of-9 effort to take a 44-36 lead five minutes into the second frame. Hackney, who scored just two points in the entire first half, contributed seven points during the spurt, while Beth Marshall (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Orban each chipped in a three-pointer.
Hackney found a sweet spot in the corner and added four of NU's next six points from that location, pushing the Wildcat lead to double-digits, 48-38, with 13:38 on the clock. Back-to-back trips to the free-throw line by fellow classmate Dannielle Diamant (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) and Orban made it a 52-40 at the 11:57 marker.
Northwestern continued to shine offensively over the next six minutes, scoring 38 points while limiting Wisconsin to just 19. The Badgers made it interesting at the end, composing an 11-3 run over the final two minutes, but three free-throws by Jaeschke and a little help from the clock sealed the victory.
The Wildcats' 68 points was the second-most scored on Wisconsin this season, and it was just the third overall loss in the Kohl Center for the Badgers this year.
The Wildcats are next in action on Thursday, Feb. 4, when they host Michigan for a 7 p.m. affair. The game will be streamed live at www.bigtennetwork.com.
