Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Gophers Edge 'Cats in Hard-Fought Duel, 73-65
1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- It was a tale of two halves, and when the final horn blasted, Northwestern found itself on the short end of a 73-65 decision in Minneapolis Thursday evening. Beth Marshall (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) led the 'Cats with 14 points each, while Meshia Reed (Country Club Hills, Ill./Stockbridge (Ga.)) matched her season-high with 11. Northwestern is now 11-5 on the season and 2-3 in conference action.
Neither team allowed the negative temperatures outside to influence their offense attack, as both squads shot north of 50 percent from the field through the first five minutes of the game. Nine of NU's first 11 points came from beyond the arc, including back-to-back long balls by Cartwright and Marshall, which set the score at 11-7 with 15:42 on the clock. In fact, the 'Cats hit an outstanding 11 of their first 14 looks.
Minnesota answered NU's three-play with a triple of its own, but Northwestern went on a 9-2 run to take a five-point lead at the 13:04 mark. Marshall continued her sharp-shooting, rattling off five points to spearhead a 7-0 NU spurt and give the 'Cats their largest lead of the game, an 11-point cushion with just under 11 minutes remaining in the period.
Northwestern continued to build its lead, fueled by Reed's hustle and back-to-back buckets. Cartwright and Marshall once again tag-teamed to score five consecutive points for the 'Cats and put NU up by 16 with 5:51 left in the half.
NU held strong offensively and took a 41-30 lead into intermission. Marshall paced all scorers with 14 points while Cartwright contributed seven. The 'Cats nailed seven three-pointers and cooled down to shoot 59 percent on the half.
Minnesota came out of the break to score three quick points and pull the game to within 43-38 just three minutes into the second stanza. The now-relevant crowd of 3,500 rose to their feet, but a layup by Hackney quickly returned them from whence they came.
The Gophers outscored Northwestern 13-2 through the first six minutes to notch the game at 43. A 15-foot-jumper by Reed ended NU's scoring drought and refused Minnesota the lead, pulling the 'Cats ahead, 46-43, at the 13:32 mark.
A lay-in by Zoe Harper gave Minnesota its first lead since the 16:46 mark of the first half. Two more free-throws from Brittany McCoy set the score at 51-48 in favor of the home team. The Gophers continued to build their lead, extending it to an eight-point margin before Brittany Orban (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) executed a hard-fought lay-in and converted on the free throw to pull Northwestern to within five with just over five minutes remaining.
Minnesota held an eight-point advantage with 3:04 remaining, but the Wildcats converted on back-to-back trips to the line to slash the lead in half, 64-60 with 2:23 remaining. The difference see-sawed between four and six points until a three-point conversion by Cartwright cut the difference to three with 50 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, the Gophers couldn't get a good look until the shot clock nearly expired. But, Buford connected on a triple to give Minnesota a six-point lead with 24 seconds left. Northwestern could not convert and the Gophers held on for the victory.
Freshmen Kendall Hackney (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) and Dannielle Diamant (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) led NU on the glass with seven boards.
The Wildcats are next in action on Sunday, Jan. 10 when they battle Purdue in a 1 p.m. CT contest in West Lafayette.
