Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Look to Humble Hawkeyes Wednesday
1/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| rv/rv Northwestern (13-2, 3-1 B1G) at No. 22/21 Iowa (12-3, 3-1 B1G) |
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| Date | Wednesday, Jan. 14 | 7:00 p.m. CST |
| Location | Carver-Hawkeye Arena | Iowa City, Iowa |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Listen Live | WNUR - 89.3 FM |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Social Media | @nuwbball  | Northwestern Women's Basketball  | @NUCATS_WBB  |
| Game Notes (PDF) |
Northwestern | Iowa |
| Preview Interviews | Coach McKeown | A. Deary |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Seeking its fourth conference victory of the young season, Northwestern hits the road Wednesday to face No. 22/21 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa for a midweek clash of Big Ten foes.
DEARY EARNS B1G CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK RECOGNITION
Northwestern sophomore Ashley Deary turned in her second double-double of the season to help the Wildcats complete the season sweep of Michigan State Sunday, and on Monday she was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week. The point guard scored a team-high 18 points and handed out a season-high 10 assists to go along with four rebounds and a steal in NU's lone game of the week. She shot 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from the field, while draining both 3-point attempts. With her team down 14-5 less than five minutes into the game, Deary scored eight unanswered points all by herself to pull Northwestern quickly to within one. She then assisted on Maggie Lyon's jumper that gave the `Cats the lead for good. Deary added a second 3-pointer as she scored 11 of her 18 points during NU's 20-0 run against the Spartans that spanned 5:53 in the first half. It is the first weekly award of her career, one she shares this week with Betnijah Laney of Rutgers.
SHARING IS CARING
Northwestern leads the Big Ten and ranks 12th in the NCAA with 17.8 assists per game this season. Point guard Ashley Deary ranks third in the conference with 5.1 helpers per game and she ranks fifth with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.1. The sophomore has upped those numbers to 6.3 apg with a ratio of 4.2 in conference play. As a team, NU accumulated assists on 77.4 percent (24-of-31) of its made field goals last time out against Michigan State. The high mark this season came on Dec. 7 against Loyola when the Wildcats recorded 22 assists on 28 baskets (78.5 percent).
SENSATIONAL STREAK
Before falling at Arizona State on Dec. 21, Northwestern won 10 consecutive games to start the season, marking the program's longest winning streak since Nov. 24-Dec. 18, 1995 (9). To find the last time that the Wildcats won 10 consecutive games prior to 2014-15, you have to go back to the 1989-90 campaign when the squad went unbeaten in 10 contests between Dec. 9 - Jan. 21. That team, under head coach Don Perrelli, won 24 games overall and the program's first Big Ten Championship. To date, NU has had six streaks of 10-wins-or-more, including the most recent string. The record for the most consecutive wins in program history is 17 (Jan. 23 - March 8, 1980).
HISTORICAL POLL PRESENCE
For the first time in program history, Northwestern entered the USA Today top 25 coaches poll on Dec. 30, checking in at No. 25. Northwestern was last ranked in the AP poll on Jan. 29, 1996 at No. 23. The highest AP ranking in prorgram history came on Dec. 10, 1990 (6), and the 'Cats have appeared in the final poll twice. Northwestern was ranked No. 13 to conclude the 1989-90 campaign and No. 22 at the end of the 1990-91 season. The Wildcats are among others receiving votes in both versions this week, and they are unofficially No. 26 in the coaches poll.
CONSISTENT 'CATS
Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown has used the same starting lineup, consisting of Alex Cohen, Nia Coffey, Maggie Lyon, Christen Inman and Ashley Deary, in all 15 games this season. That group has opened the last 19 consecutive games together and 42 of 47 contests since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
SCOUTING IOWA
Overall Record: 12-3, 3-1 Big Ten
All-Time Series Record: Iowa leads, 41-23
Notable: The Hawkeyes, under the direction of head coach Lisa Bluder, boast one of the top offenses in the Big Ten. Iowa is averaging 79.6 points per game, the third-best output in the conference. As a team, Iowa leads the conference and ranks second in the NCAA in 3-point FG percentage at a clip of .405. Like the Wildcats, four different players are scoring in double figures, led by Melissa Dixon's 16.3 points per game. Dixon is the top 3-point shooter in the league, firing at a clip .474 (63-for-133) this season. She leads the NCAA with 4.2 3-point field goals per game. Veteran guard Samantha Logic is one of the top distributors in the country. The senior is averaging a Big Ten-best 6.8 assists per game. She ranks ninth in the country in that category.
QUICKLY NOTED
Nia Coffey has scored in double figures in 20 straight games dating back to March 2, 2014 at Wisconsin. That tied for the seventh-longest streak in program history ... Maggie Lyon has made at least one 3-pointer during the same span. The junior is the team's active leading scorer with 950 points.
UP NEXT
Northwestern makes a brief return to Welsh-Ryan Arena for a rare Saturday Big Ten game contest against Michigan on January 17. The Wildcats and Wolverines will hook up at 5 p.m. CST in a game that will be shown live on the Big Ten Network with Lisa Byington and Vera Jones handling the play-by-play and color analysis, repsectively. Tickets are available now by calling 888-GO-PURPLE (467-8775) or visiting the ticketing page on NUsports.com.
More notes and information are available for both teams in the Game Notes PDF packages linked at the top of the page.
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