Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Welcome Wolverines to Evanston Saturday
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| rv/rv Northwestern (13-3, 3-2 B1G) vs. Michigan (11-5, 3-2 B1G) |
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| Date | Saturday, Jan. 17 | 5:00 p.m. CST |
| Location | Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch Live | Big Ten Network and BTN2GO (Lisa Byington and Vera Jones) |
| Listen Live | WNUR - 89.3 FM |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Social Media | @nuwbball  | Northwestern Women's Basketball  | @NUCATS_WBB  |
| Game Notes (PDF) |
Northwestern | Michigan |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Seeking to remain unbeaten at Welsh-Ryan Arena this season, Northwestern returns home Saturday, Jan. 17 to host the Michigan Wolverines in a game that will be televised live on the Big Ten Network at 5 p.m. CST.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
At 7-0, Northwestern is one of three Big Ten teams to remain undefeated on its home court this season, joining Iowa (10-0) and Maryland (8-0). The Wildcats have beaten opponents by an average of 21.4 points at Welsh-Ryan Arena this year and they are averaging 67.4 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field. Defensively, NU is limiting the opposition to 46 points per game at a clip of 28.7 percent while forcing 21 turnovers per contest.
PROTECT THE ROCK
Northwestern's primary ballhandlers, Ashley Deary and Karly Roser, have protected the basketball well during Big Ten play. Deary, a sophomore, leads the conference with a league-best 4.0 assist/turnover ratio in league games, while Roser, a senior, owns a ratio of 2.8 with 14 assists to five turnovers. That number would rank third in conference play, however the minimum is 15 total assists to be ranked. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 16.8 assists and 13.6 turnovers in conference play. The 'Cats matched a season low last time out at Iowa with only nine turnovers.
MINUTEWOMEN
Northwestern's five regular starters - Alex Cohen, Nia Coffey, Maggie Lyon, Christen Inman and Ashley Deary, plus super-subs Lauren Douglas and Karly Roser, have combined to play 92.6 percent (3,011 of 3,250) of the possible minutes this season, while scoring 95.7 percent of the points (1,140 of 1,191). In five of NU's games this was the only rotation utilized by head coach Joe McKeown, most recently against Michigan State on Jan. 11. All five starters have played at least 397 minutes with Lyon playing the most thus far at 532 (33.2 per game). The durable junior has played 39 of a possible 40 minutes in each of NU's last two games.
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 16 games this season. That group has opened the last 20 consecutive games together and 43 of 49 contests since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Overall Record: 11-5, 3-2 Big Ten
All-Time Series Record: NU leads, 37-30
Notable: The Wolverines come to Welsh-Ryan Arena well rested having not played since Jan. 11 when they defeated Ohio State in overtime, 100-94. It marked the first time since Dec. 3, 1998 that Michigan scored 100 points or more. U-M's leading scorer is freshman guard Katelynn Flaherty at 14.7 points per game, just ahead of senior forward Cyesha Goree who comes in at 14.5 ppg. Goree is the team's leading rebounder with 10.6 per game and she ranks 10th in the country with 10 double-doubles this season. Michigan is 0-4 in true road games this season with a record of 0-2 as the visitor in Big Ten play. It is one of two B1G squads without a true road win this season (also Penn State).
QUICKLY NOTED
Nia Coffey has scored in double figures in 21 straight games dating back to March 2, 2014 at Wisconsin. That is 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 966 points ... Alex Cohen played in her 100th career game against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 20 ... The Wildcats are 1-0 on Saturday this season (12/20 vs. EIU) ... Northwestern is 0-1 in games televised on BTN (1/4 at OSU) ... The 'Cats hold a 28-6 advantage in second-chance points over the last two games ... Joe McKeown is 3-9 all-time against the Wolverines as the head coach at Northwestern, but is winless since Feb. 4, 2010 ... The Wildcats do not have any Michigan natives on the current roster, however Amber Jamison who hails from Rochester Hills, will join the team next year ... Since winning at DePaul on Nov. 29, the Wildcats have had only six ties and 16 lead changes in 11 games. The game against the Blue Demons saw 13 ties and 23 lead changes alone.
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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