Coffey’s 21 Paces Northwestern at Iowa

2/16/2017 9:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nia Coffey continued her torrid scoring pace with another 21 points Thursday night at Iowa, but the Wildcats fell to the Hawkeyes in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 78-59.

Coffey's 21 points followed up her 33-point effort on Monday at Minnesota. The senior forward made eight-of-21 shots to score the game-high total. It was her 12th time scoring over 20 points this season. She also grabbed seven rebounds.

Coffey broke yet another Northwestern career record when she stepped to the free throw line in the third quarter and knocked down the 470th free throw of her career, surpassing Anucha Browne, who hit 469 from 1982-85.

Classmate Ashley Deary also reached double figures with 12 points, the 18th time she has done so this year. The Lieberman Award finalist knocked down a pair of threes, dished out six assists and had five steals.

The game ended a six-day, three-game road trip for the Wildcats. Northwestern (17-9, 6-7) is on a four-game skid with three games remaining in the regular season.

Northwestern took a season high 74 shots but struggled from the field, shooting just 31 percent. Iowa took 26 free throws, making 22, while the Wildcats got to the line just 11 times.

Iowa got out to a hot start right off the bat, but Northwestern went on an 8-1 run and held Iowa scoreless for more than six minutes to get the margin to 16-12 after the first 10 minutes. The Hawkeyes had their best quarter of the game in the second, building up a 41-29 halftime lead and gradually extending that out in the final 20 minutes to grab the victory.

Northwestern returns home for Senior Day against Illinois on Sunday. The Feb. 19 game is the celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena.