Northwestern University Athletics
#B1GCats Show Resilience in Win Over No. 5 Ohio State
1/15/2016 12:36:00 PM | General, Women's Basketball
By Amit Malik, Northwestern Correspondent
After two tough losses to Purdue and Michigan State and falling out of the Top 25 for the first time since last season, Northwestern faced a season-defining test against No. 5 Ohio State on Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Head coach Joe McKeown inserted freshman Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah into the starting lineup for only the second time in her career, and the entire team responded to the challenge in a big way. Northwestern led wire-to-wire and withstood a furious late comeback attempt to defeat the Buckeyes 86-82 for its first win over top-10 ranked opposition since 1996.
Four Wildcats posted double-digits in points, and Kunaiyi-Akpanah had a breakout performance on the big stage with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.
"My teammates were looking to me to perform better," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said after the game. "It was in my head that I needed to step up for the team, so that what I tried to do."
Ohio State Coach Kevin McGuff even heaped praise on the young forward in his post-game press conference.
"She's a good athlete, plays really hard, and has a knack for finding the ball," McGuff said. "She worked really, really hard on the offensive glass."
Kunaiyi-Akpanah's seven offensive boards led directly to nine points for the Wildcats, including three offensive rebounds within three minutes in a tightly-contested fourth quarter.
The rest of the team turned in some of its best showings of the season, and it was needed to topple a dangerous Ohio State team that looked capable of cutting down the Wildcats' lead at any given moment.
Maggie Lyon's hot shooting start helped the Wildcats to a 27-16 first quarter lead. The senior co-captain saw all 40 minutes of action and rounded out her performance with a team-high 24 points with a 50 percent clip from the field.
Christen Inman worked her way up to 17 points with an extremely efficient second-half performance. She shot 4-of-6 from the field in the half, including a key midrange jumper to halt an Ohio State run after Nia Coffey exited the game in the fourth quarter.
"Inman made a huge play towards the end of the game. She and Maggie kept the team in a good position," McKeown said. "Maggie and Christen made huge plays. You expect that from them."
Coffey had another dominant performance, using her arsenal of inside moves to erupt for 23 points in just three quarters. She also added five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
Ashley Deary contributed six points for the night, but stuffed the stat sheet in every other way throughout her 40 minutes on the floor. She dished out an impressive 11 assists, collected three steals, and added seven rebounds.
Along with Lyon, the due did an impressive job limiting the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Co-Player of the Year Kelsey Mitchell.
After the game, Coach McKeown revealed that his team had some extra help before the game from women's lacrosse head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. Hiller, the coach of 7 national title winning teams, spoke to the team earlier in the week and gave them a "powerful message," according to Coach McKeown.
The Wildcats certainly played with some extra inspiration, and will try to keep up their intensity on Sunday for a matchup against another top-10 team in Maryland.
After two tough losses to Purdue and Michigan State and falling out of the Top 25 for the first time since last season, Northwestern faced a season-defining test against No. 5 Ohio State on Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Head coach Joe McKeown inserted freshman Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah into the starting lineup for only the second time in her career, and the entire team responded to the challenge in a big way. Northwestern led wire-to-wire and withstood a furious late comeback attempt to defeat the Buckeyes 86-82 for its first win over top-10 ranked opposition since 1996.
Four Wildcats posted double-digits in points, and Kunaiyi-Akpanah had a breakout performance on the big stage with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.
"My teammates were looking to me to perform better," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said after the game. "It was in my head that I needed to step up for the team, so that what I tried to do."
Ohio State Coach Kevin McGuff even heaped praise on the young forward in his post-game press conference.
"She's a good athlete, plays really hard, and has a knack for finding the ball," McGuff said. "She worked really, really hard on the offensive glass."
Kunaiyi-Akpanah's seven offensive boards led directly to nine points for the Wildcats, including three offensive rebounds within three minutes in a tightly-contested fourth quarter.
The rest of the team turned in some of its best showings of the season, and it was needed to topple a dangerous Ohio State team that looked capable of cutting down the Wildcats' lead at any given moment.
Maggie Lyon's hot shooting start helped the Wildcats to a 27-16 first quarter lead. The senior co-captain saw all 40 minutes of action and rounded out her performance with a team-high 24 points with a 50 percent clip from the field.
Christen Inman worked her way up to 17 points with an extremely efficient second-half performance. She shot 4-of-6 from the field in the half, including a key midrange jumper to halt an Ohio State run after Nia Coffey exited the game in the fourth quarter.
"Inman made a huge play towards the end of the game. She and Maggie kept the team in a good position," McKeown said. "Maggie and Christen made huge plays. You expect that from them."
Coffey had another dominant performance, using her arsenal of inside moves to erupt for 23 points in just three quarters. She also added five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
Ashley Deary contributed six points for the night, but stuffed the stat sheet in every other way throughout her 40 minutes on the floor. She dished out an impressive 11 assists, collected three steals, and added seven rebounds.
Along with Lyon, the due did an impressive job limiting the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Co-Player of the Year Kelsey Mitchell.
After the game, Coach McKeown revealed that his team had some extra help before the game from women's lacrosse head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. Hiller, the coach of 7 national title winning teams, spoke to the team earlier in the week and gave them a "powerful message," according to Coach McKeown.
The Wildcats certainly played with some extra inspiration, and will try to keep up their intensity on Sunday for a matchup against another top-10 team in Maryland.
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