Thursday, February 4
Champaign, Ill.
7 p.m.
Northwestern
at
Illinois
Northwestern Faces In-State Rival Illinois Thursday
2/3/2016 5:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| NORTHWESTERN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GAME INFORMATION | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS | |
| Thursday, Feb. 4 | Illinois | 7 p.m. CST | State Farm Center (Champaign, Ill.) | BTNPlus | SideArm | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUWBBall and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NUWBBall) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Wildcats (13-9, 2-8 B1G) will open their February slate against Illinois (8-13, 1-9 B1G) on Thursday, Feb. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on BTNPlus on BTN2Go.
FACEOFF FACTS
Northwestern and Illinois take to the hardwood for the 71st time on Sunday. The Wildcats hold the edge in the overall series, 37-34, and have won five of the last seven matchups.
FIGHTING FOR FEBRUARY
Northwestern capped the month of February during the 2014-15 season with a 20-point win over No. 20/18 Rutgers to finish the month with a perfect 8-0 record. It was the first time that any NU squad went unbeaten in a single month, with at least eight victories, since head coach Mary DiStanislao's group went 11-0 in February 1980. The Wildcats look to do that for the second-consecutive year.
MINUTEWOMEN
Northwestern's four primary starters - Nia Coffey, Maggie Lyon, Christen Inman and Ashley Deary, have combined to play nearly 70 percent (3,036 of 4,399) of the possible minutes this season, while scoring 84.3 percent of the points (1,417 of 1,684). All four players have started in every game this season. All four have played at least 715 minutes with Inman logging the most thus far at 777 (35.3 per game). Inman ranks 10th in the Big Ten in minutes played.
THREES COMPANY
The Wildcats have tallied at least five 3-point field goals in all but four games so far this season, including 12 games with seven or more and three 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.
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 13 20+ point performances, including a season-high 29 points against Indiana last week. Coffey has scored in double figures in 37-straight games, dating back to Jan. 22, 2015, for the fourth-best streak in program history and is averaging a team-best 20 points per game. She sits second in the Big Ten in double-doubles with 11 and is the only player in the conference averaging double digit points and rebounds.
LYON LINES
Maggie Lyon has scored nearly half (756) of her 1,553 career points from 3-point range. Against Minnesota, the senior set the program record in 3-point field goals made with 245 and is currently tied for second on NU's single-season record list with 83 triples during the 2014-15 season.
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 16 of the Wildcats 21 games this year. She led the 'Cats in scoring against Western Michigan (11/22/15) with a then 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 at the time. She ranks fourth on the squad in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game. Deary set a career-high against Indiana on Jan. 24 with 28 points and added seven rebounds and 10 assists to flirt with a triple double.
Ashley Deary recorded 10 steals against Eastern Washington to mark the fourth 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 (505) and steals (269). Against Iowa, Deary tied Northwestern's single-season record in steals - a record she currently owns with 99 steals during the 2014-15 season.
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