No. 24 Northwestern Hosts No. 5 Ohio State Thursday

1/13/2016 3:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NO. 24 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Thursday, Jan. 14	No. 5 Ohio St.	7 p.m. CST	Welsh-Ryan Arena (Evanston, Ill.)	Big Ten Network	SideArm
Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@NUWBBall) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Ohio State

EVANSTON, Ill. - In its second-straight top 25 matchup, No. 24 Northwestern hosts No. 5 Ohio State on Thursday, Jan. 14n for 90s night! Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. CST and will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

If you thought 80s night was fun...join us for 90S NIGHT tomorrow at Welsh-Ryan as your #B1GCats take on Ohio State!For your musical enjoyment... :)
Posted by Northwestern Women's Basketball on Wednesday, January 13, 2016

SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Overall Record: 12-13, 4-0 B1G
All-Time Series Record: OSU leads 42-17
Notables
• The Buckeyes are second in the conference and fourth in the country in scoring at 86.5 ppg.
• Ohio State is ranked 5th in both polls and currently has a record of 63-11 as a top-5 team.
• The Buckeyes have won a season-high eight games in a row and are forcing 16.8 turnovers per game during the streak.
• OSU is averaging over 20 points per game off opponent turnovers.
• Ohio State grabbed 50 rebounds against Indiana on Jan. 7, marking the first 50-rebound game for the team since Dec. 14, 2010.
• Alexa Hart is shooting 72.9 percent (51-of-70) from the floor over the last nine games.
• Senior Ameryst Alston and sophomore Kelsey Mitchell were each named to the preseason Wooden and Naismith Award Watch Lists.
• Mitchell is second in the country at 25.0 ppg and Alston is 46th at 18.8 ppg.
• Alston is 7th in school history with 1,843 career points. She is 69 points away from 6th.
• The Buckeyes have faced five top-10 teams already this season, including all four of last year's Final Four teams.

FACEOFF FACTS
Northwestern and Ohio State take to the hardwood for the 60th time on Thursday. The Buckeyes have dominated the series, historically, winning 42 of the 59 total matchups between the Big Ten rivals. The Wildcats look to snap a five-game losing streak against Ohio State
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STRONG START
The Wildcats won 10-straight games to open the season for the second-straight year. NU was one of just two Big Ten teams to open the season with 10-consecutive wins before dropping its first game of the year against No. 16 DePaul on Dec. 19. Northwestern closed out its non-conference slate with an 11-1 mark for the best start to a season under head coach Joe McKeown.

WELCOME TO MY HOUSE
The Wildcats are 7-2 at Welsh-Ryan Arena this season, beating opponents by an average of 23.0 points in Evanston. At home, NU averaged 78.6 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the field. Defensively, the Wildcats limited the opposition to 55.6 points per game at a clip of 33.9 percent while creating 21.0 turnovers per contest with a turnover margin of +8.9.

THREES COMPANY
The Wildcats have tallied at least five 3-point field goals in all but two games so far this season, including eight games with seven or more and two games with double-digit trifectas. Christen Inman, who recorded five triples against Nebraska, and Maggie Lyon, who tallied five against Creighton, are the only two players to record at least five 3-pointers in a single game so far this season. The Wildcats sit third in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals made with 108 and second in the conference in triples made in Big Ten play with 28 total.

WILDCATS IN THE POLLS
Northwestern women's basketball tipped off the 2015-16 season ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. The 'Cats were ranked for nine-straight weeks to start the season and were ranked as high as No. 12 in the AP Poll. It marked the highest rankings since the 1991-92 season when the 'Cats were touted as high as 11.

COFFEY ROLLS ALONG
Nia Coffey tallied her 1,000th-career point in the 'Cats season-opening win over Howard. The junior became the second active Wildcat to accomplish the feat, and joined eight other players in the Big Ten's 1,000-point club.

The junior was named to the 2015-16 Preseason All-Big Ten team, and was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2015. Coffey scored in double figures in 31 contests during the 2014-15 season and poured in 20-plus points on seven occasions. Coffey was one of just two Big Ten Players to rank among the league's top 10 in points (15.2 ppg), rebounds (9.7 rpg) and blocks (1.8 bpg), while recording a team-best 14 double-doubles on the year.

This year, Coffey was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-30 List. The list is comprised of 30 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. She was also named to the The Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List.

So far this year, the junior had recorded eight 20+ point performances, including a season-high 27 points in the 'Cats home opener against Howard. Coffey has scored in double figures in 31-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, and is averaging a team-best 18.6 points per game. She leads the Big Ten in double-doubles with nine and is one of just 18 current active Division I players with 31+ career double-doubles.

LYON LINES
Maggie Lyon has scored nearly half (702) of her 1,447 career points from 3-point range. Lyon is second in program history in 3-point field goals made with 235 and is tied for second on NU's single-season record list with 83 triples during the 2014-15 season. She is just nine 3-pointers shy of tying Northwestern's all-time record for career triples.

Lyon has led the 'Cats in scoring in six games this season, including career-best 31-point performance against North Carolina.

OH, DEAR(Y)!
Ashley Deary has had a stellar start to the 2015-16 season, recording double digit scoring in all 14 games this year. She led the 'Cats in scoring against Western Michigan (11/22/15) with a career-best 25 points and added a career-high 12 assists to mark a program single-game best. At North Carolina, Deary surpassed the 400-assists career mark and became just the fourth active Big Ten Player to accomplish the feat. She ranks fourth on the squad in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game.

Ashley Deary recorded 10 steals against Eastern Washington to mark the second most by an individual in the NCAA to date this season. The junior leads the country in steals per game with 4.62 per contest and ranks among the top 10 current active Division I players in career assists (457) and steals (244).

TURNOVER FOR WHAT?!
In the Wildcats' non-conference finale against UMKC, NU committed just two turnovers while forcing 24. The 'Cats two turnovers were the fewest in Joe McKeown's coaching career and ties for the fewest among Division I teams this season. Northern Colorado also committed just two against Western State on Nov. 16.