Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Seek Another Road Win in Bloomington Thursday
2/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
| Northwestern (15-6, 5-5 B1G) at Indiana (13-8, 3-7 B1G) |
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| Date | Thursday, Feb. 5 | 6:00 p.m. CST |
| Location | Assembly Hall | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Listen Live | WNUR - 89.3 FM |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Preview Interviews | Coach McKeown | C. Inman |
| Social Media | @nuwbball  | Northwestern Women's Basketball  | @NUCATS_WBB  |
| Game Notes (PDF) |
Northwestern | Indiana |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern plays three of its next four contests away from home and that stretch begins with a stop in Bloomington, Ind., where it will face the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. CST.
SHARING IS CARING
Northwestern leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the NCAA with 18.2 assists per game this season. Point guard Ashley Deary ranks third in the conference with 5.3 helpers per game and third with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.1. The sophomore has upped those numbers to 6.0 apg with a ratio of 2.7 in conference play. As a team, NU accumulated a season-high 28 assists on 77.7 percent (28-of-36) of its made field goals at home against Iowa last Thursday night. Senior Karly Roser had a season-high nine assists against the Hawkeyes, while Deary had that many last time out against Minnesota. The team's best percentage this season came on Dec. 7 against Loyola when the Wildcats recorded 22 assists on 28 baskets (78.5 percent).
PASS THE BUTTER
Northwestern's Nia Coffey was one of three players named to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. The sophomore averaged 23.5 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and 1.5 steals per game in contests against Iowa (1/29) and Minnesota (2/1). Coffey scored a career-high 35 points against the Hawkeyes and followed that up with her eighth double-double of the season against her hometown team, Minnesota. The sophomore claimed Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Dec. 1 this season.
START FAST, FINISH STRONG
Northwestern has won 15 games, in large part, by jumping ahead early. The Wildcats have scored 769 first-half points this season, an average of 36.6 per game. The 'Cats have scored 40 points or more in the first half seven times, most recently against Iowa on Jan. 29 (41). On the other side, opponents are averaging just 27.8 points during the first 20 minutes this season, while turning the ball over an average of 9.3 times during the first period alone. Five times this season the opposition has committed at least 15 turnovers in the first half, most recently Wisconsin at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 1 (17).
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 21 games this season. That group has opened the last 25 consecutive games together and 48 of 54 contests since the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Lyon has the most career starts, 77, while Deary has started all 54 games of her career.
LAST TIME OUT: WILDCATS LOCK DOWN GOLDEN GOPHERS, 70-49
The weather outside was frightful as the area was slammed by the fifth-largest snow storm in Chicago history, but inside, Northwestern was delightful as it toppled the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Big Ten action Sunday, 70-49.
Sunday's win marked the 10th time this season that the Wildcats held the opposition under 50 points. The Gophers entered the weekend averaging 76 points per game and NU was able to keep them 27 points below that mark. It was also the worst loss of the season in terms of margin for Minnesota. The visiting team shot below 30 percent and it committed 22 turnovers, including 13 in the second half as the Wildcats pulled away.
Christen Inman led all players with a season-high 20 points. She also added five assists and a pair of steals in 34 minutes. Ashley Deary handed out a game-high nine assists, including seven in the first half.
BALANCE IS BEST
While sophomore Nia Coffey leads the Wildcats in scoring with 15.3 points per game, the team has used a balanced offensive attack this season. All five starters are netting at least 9.3 points per game this year and four players are scoring at least 11.3 points per contest. Four times this season, against Kent State, DePaul, Wisconsin and Michigan State (1/11), five players have scored in double figures for Northwestern. Against Iowa on Jan. 29, NU had three players - Coffey (35), Ashley Deary (22) and Maggie Lyon (20) each net 20 points or more.
SCOUTING INDIANA
Overall Record: 13-8, 3-7 Big Ten
All-Time Series Record: IU leads, 37-33
Notable: The Hoosiers recently snapped a four-game slide with a 17-point victory over instate rival Purdue on Monday. Indiana boasts the fourth-highest-scoring offense in the Big Ten, one that averages 74.9 points per game under first-year head coach Teri Moren. IU features abalanced attack with six players contributing between 12.2-8.0 points per game. The Hoosiers share the ball well, accumulating 16.2 assists per game, ranking 27th nationally in that category. Indiana also does well in limiting how much the opposition scores from behind the 3-point line. It leads the conference in allowing opponents to shoot just 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will be home on Sunday, Feb. 8 to host the Illinois Fighting Illini on a very busy day. Before the game, Northwestern is hosting its fourth annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day event featuring young athletes and fans, along with several professionals throughout the industry. To register or for more information about that event, which begins at 11:30 a.m., please CLICK HERE.
NU will also host its annual Pink Zone game and the program will welcome back dozens of former players back to Welsh-Ryan Arena for Alumni Day.
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