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Northwestern Rumbles Past Purdue in Overtime, 73-65
2/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Northwestern 73, Purdue 65 (OT) Mackey Arena • West Lafayette, Ind. Box Score | Box Score   | |
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Northwestern needed an extra five minutes Wednesday, but the Wildcats gritted out a critical road victory in overtime at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., 73-65.
After drawing an offensive near the end of regulation, the Wildcats had a chance to win the game in regulation with 3.9 seconds to go. Point guard Ashley Deary took the ball three-quarters of the way down the floor, but her floater at the rim drew iron and the teams finished the first 40 minutes tied at 60 points.
Northwestern drew first blood in the extra session when it won the tip and Lauren Douglas scored just eight seconds later. Less than a minute later Nia Coffey made two of her five free throws to give the Wildcats a one-point lead, one that they would not relinquish. Maggie Lyon delivered what could be described as the dagger with 2:17 left in the period when she converted a clutch 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game and put her team on top, 69-63.
Purdue cut its deficit to four 15 seconds later, but Douglas scored four points in the final 1:15 to put the 73-65 victory on ice. The junior finished with 13 points, the most since New Year's Day against Wisconsin.
Lyon came up with two sensational steals in overtime, but of which led to scores for the 'Cats. She finished the game with five steals to match a career high.
Deary scored a team-high 18 points, half of which came from the free-throw line. She was a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe, marking the sixth-best performance form the line in seven seasons under Joe McKeown. As a team, NU shot 94.4 percent (17-of-18) from the line, making its final 15 of the game.
Coffey finished with her fourth consecutive double-double behind 17 points and 11 rebounds. Lyon added 14 points to go along with her five steals. She made four shots from beyond the arc against the Boilermakers, and she's now made at least one in 29 consecutive games.
Northwestern won its 18th game of the season Wednesday, the most since the 2010-11 season. It was also the eighth Big Ten win of the year, which is the most in seven seasons under McKeown. It's also the most since the 1996-97 campaign. That team won nine conference clashes and 17 overall under head coach Don Perrelli. The 'Cats also won at Mackey Arena for the first time since Dec. 29. 1996
To get the game into overtime, Northwestern had to overcome a 14-point first-half deficit. The Wildcats cut it to seven at the break before really charging hard in the second half. It marked only the sixth time in 24 games this season that NU had to play from behind when the second half started.
A quick 5-0 run to open the second stanza helped the 'Cats claw within two. Four minutes and 34 seconds later, Northwestern tied the game when Douglas scored inside off a feed from Coffey. A minute later Coffey hauled in one of her 11 rebounds and led a fast break that ended with Deary giving Northwestern a 42-40 lead with 14:23 remaining.
The Boilermakers methodically built the lead back up to six points, but an 8-0 run that was capped by another Lyon triple put Northwestern back in the lead, 50-48.
There were only eight combined points scored in the final 5:31, but both teams had looks to end it. Coffey got a rebound off a miss by Purdue's Whitney Bays and McKeown called timeout with 32.1 seconds left. Douglas got a look, but her shot didn't fall and the Boilermakers corralled the carom. The wound down the clock, but Bays was whistled for an offensive foul with 3.9 seconds left to give the Wildcats their final chance in regulation.
Earlier, the teams went back and forth over the first seven and a half minutes of the game with Purdue holding a one-point lead, 13-12, when Coffey scored inside with 12:23 left in the opening stanza. After that, the 'Cats went cold and suffered a scoring drought that stretched 4:54. In that time, the Boilermakers went on a 12-0 run, taking a 25-12 lead.
Purdue eventually led by as many as 14 points before the Wildcats began to make a significant push in the final four minutes of the frame. Freshman Lydia Rohde buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the deficit to single digits at the 3:55 mark, but Purdue scored four unanswered to get back ahead by 13 points.
Deary started an 8-0 run for the 'Cats with a triple of her own before Lyon made her first of the night. Lyon also added a layup off an inbound pass from Deary with less than seven seconds to pull Northwestern within five points. Purdue's Bree Horrocks hit a basket from the paint at the buzzer and it gave her team a 36-29 lead at the break.
NU was 0-5 when trailing at halftime entering Wednesday. On the flip side, Purdue was 10-2 when leading at the break until losing its grip to the Wildcats at Mackey Arena.
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