Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
'Cats Battle Hard, Fall At Michigan State, 68-55
2/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Junior Amy Jaeschke paced Northwestern with 20 points and Kendall Hackney added 14, but Michigan State emerged victorious, 68-55, Sunday afternoon in front of a lively crowd of 8,632 at the Breslin Center. Kristin Cartwright chipped in a team-high 10 rebounds and nine points for the 'Cats (14-11, 5-9).
MSU sprinted out to an 8-0 start before a three-pointer by Hackney (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) put the Wildcats on the board. Michigan State built a 15-5 lead, but back-to-back Spartan turnovers led to a 7-0 Wildcat run to make it a one-possession affair at the 12-minute mark.
Lauren Aitch, who led the Spartans' 50 percent shooting effort through the first 10 minutes, answered for the home team with a three-pointer, sparking a 7-0 Spartan run. A nifty turnaround by Hackney truncated MSU's spurt, and set the tally at 22-14 with 9:22 left in the first frame.
While Northwestern's defense held MSU silent on the offensive end, five-consecutive points from Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) pulled the Wildcats to within five, 24-19, at the 8:30 mark. But the Spartans once again answered with a 12-0 run to pull ahead, 36-19, with 5:17 left.
But Northwestern continued to fight, and two free-throws by Hackney capped off a 10-3 run, making it a 10-point affair, 39-29, with 1:48 remaining in the stanza.
Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) led NU with 10 points at the break, while Cartwright and Hackney chipped in seven. Beth Marshall (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) added a career-best five steals in the opening frame alone.
Scoring was hard to come by in the early going of the second half, as both teams could only muster two buckets through the first four minutes. Offensive production picked up on both sides, and for Northwestern, it was all Jaeschke. The junior scored 10 of the Wildcats' first 12 points of the second half, single-handedly making it a nine-point game at the 12-minute mark.
A lay-in by Meshia Reed (Country Club Hills, Ill./Stockbridge (Ga.)) cut the lead to seven, 51-44, at the 11:29 mark. But with Jaeschke on the bench with four fouls, Michigan State proceeded to go on a 7-0 run to pull ahead 58-44 with 7:50 left.
Northwestern outscored MSU 11-7 over the next six minutes, and cut the Spartans' lead to 10 with 1:54 remaining, but could not manage to narrow the margin any further.
Jaeschke recorded her eighth 20+ point effort while also adding two blocks while Marshall contributed five assists to accompany her five steals.
The Wildcats return to the court on Thursday, Feb. 18, when they entertain Indiana in a 7 p.m. showdown at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
