NU Sails Against Gaels, 78-57

11/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Nov. 26, 2010

Box Score

Site: Moraga, Calif. (McKeon Pavilion)
Score: Northwestern 78, Saint Mary's 57
Records: NU (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten), Saint Mary's (2-3, 0-0 WCC)
Next NU Event: Nov. 27--vs. BYU in Saint Mary's Tournament (Moraga, Calif.), 8 p.m. CT

MORAGA, CALIF. -- Four Wildcats turned in double-figures efforts, led by a pair of double-doubles by Amy Jaeschke and Brittany Orban, as Northwestern defeated Saint Mary's, 78-57, in the first day of action at the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, Calif. With the victory, NU improves to 5-0, its best start since the 1995-96 campaign.

"I thought it was a great effort tonight," head coach Joe McKeown said. "To come in and face a Saint Mary's team who has been playing well on their home court was a great challenge. I thought our kids did a great job and it was a complete team effort. I'm just really proud of everybody."

Seniors Beth Marshall and Jaeschke set the tempo for NU in the opening minutes, accounting for all of the Wildcats' initial 13 points, before the rest of the team chimed in.

With the score deadlocked at 11, sixth-man Tailor Jones provided Northwestern with an offensive boost, only on the defensive end. Jones caused the Gaels to cough the ball up on back-to-back possessions, translating into a few quick NU points and, more importantly, supplying the 'Cats with momentum. Orban took Jones' cue and drew a pair of fouls on back-to-back possessions and added a lay-in which capped off an 8-1 Wildcat run. The flurry of production inflated NU's lead to 19-11 with just over 12 minutes left in the half.

A trip to the charity stripe by Kendall Hackney at the 8:56 point capped off a 5-0 Northwestern run that pushed its lead to 11, but Saint Mary's narrowed the difference to six less than a minute later. And then, Orban got in the zone, issuing back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 10-3 Wildcat spurt and give NU its largest lead of the half, a 39-24 advantage, with 3:37 remaining.

The Gaels answered with a 6-0 run to pull within single-digits with just over two minutes on the clock, but Orban sparked an 8-0 Wildcat spurt to end the half and give NU a 47-30 lead at the break.

Orban was 3-of-4 from deep and led all scorers with 17 points while Jaeschke turned in 12. Northwestern took care of the ball on offense, surrendering it a season-low eight times in the half, while assisting on 11 of its 16 field goals.

Hackney deposited the first four points of the frame, giving Northwestern a 21-point cushion. On the other end, meanwhile, the Wildcats built a defensive wall, allowing just nine Gael points in the first 11 minutes of the stanza while exploding for 17 points in that same span. That proved to be all Northwestern needed to secure its fifth win of the season. Hackney scored 11 of her 15 points in the second stanza.

The Wildcats turned in a strong shooting effort, nailing 45 percent of their looks from the field while cashing in on 87 percent (13-of-15) of their opportunities from the free-throw line.

Northwestern returns to the floor tomorrow (Nov. 27) at 8 p.m. CT when it faces BYU. The Cougars were victorious in their first game of the event, cruising by Wisconsin, 67-55.

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