Northwestern University Athletics

No. 20 Northwestern Meets Minnesota for Midweek Matchup
1/19/2016 5:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| NO. 20 NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS | |
| Wednesday, Jan. 20 | Minnesota | 7 p.m. CST | Williams Arena | BTNPlus | GameTracker | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NUWBBall) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern hits the road once again to face Minnesota on Wednesday, Jan. 20, for a midweek matchup at Williams Arena. Tip off is set for 7 p.m., and will be streamed live on BTNPlus on BTN2Go.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Overall Record: (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten)
Notables
• Rachel Banham was named to the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll for the second week in a row and the third time this season. She was also named the Big Ten Player of the Week once (Dec. 14). In last week's pair of games, Banham averaged 25.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 52.5 percent. She is one of just two league players to have sored at least 30 points in a Big Ten game this season. Banham currently leads all active Big Ten players with 2,581 career points, ranking third on the all-time scoring list in the conference record book.
• Two Gophers are averaging double figures. Benham is averaging 23.6 points per game, while Carlie Wagner sits at 19.5 points per game.
• Minnesota is one of six Big Ten teams to rank among the top 25 nationally in scoring offense. The Gophers sit 13th overall with 79.5 points per game.
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 8-2 at Welsh-Ryan Arena this season, beating opponents by an average of 21.1 points in Evanston. At home, NU averaged 79.3 points per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field. Defensively, the Wildcats limited the opposition to 58.2 points per game at a clip of 35.4 percent while creating 21.5 turnovers per contest with a turnover margin of +8.1.
THREES COMPANY
The Wildcats have tallied at least five 3-point field goals in all but three games so far this season, including nine 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 and No. 5 Ohio State, are the only two players to record at least five 3-pointers in a single game so far this season.
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 and Midseason Top-20 List. The lists are comprised of 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 nine 20+ point performances, including a season-high 27 points in the 'Cats home opener against Howard. Coffey has scored in double figures in 33-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, and is averaging a team-best 18.9 points per game. She sits second in 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 (723) of her 1,484 career points from 3-point range. Lyon is second in program history in 3-point field goals made with 241 and is tied for second on NU's single-season record list with 83 triples during the 2014-15 season. She is just three 3-pointers shy of tying Northwestern's all-time record for career triples.
Lyon has led the 'Cats in scoring in seven 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 14 of the Wildcats 17 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. 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 13.4 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 4.5 per contest and ranks among the top 10 current active Division I players in career assists (468) and steals (247).
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.
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