Final Home Game of 2017 Pits Northwestern Against Rutgers

2/22/2017 2:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NORTHWESTERN BASKETBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	Radio	LIVE STATS
Thursday, Feb. 23	Rutgers	6 p.m.	Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)	BTN BTN2Go	WNUR	Sidearm
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Game Notes

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern plays its final game in the current Welsh-Ryan Arena Thursday night when Rutgers comes to town. Following the men's basketball home finale on March 5, the arena will undergo a complete $110 million renovation with expected completion before the 2018-19 season.

The Wildcats [18-9, 7-7] are coming off a 13-point win over Illinois on Senior Day on Sunday and will look to keep the momentum going against the Scarlet Knights [6-21, 3-11]. Northwestern beat Rutgers, 55-37, in an earlier meeting this year.

Tip is set for 6 p.m. The game will be televised live on Big Ten Network, and WNUR will have the call on radio. Live stats will be available via Sidearm. Links for all can be found in the table at the top of the page.

SERIES HISTORY
Northwestern and Rutgers met once earlier this season with the Wildcats winning 55-37 in Piscataway, New Jersey. That victory tied the all-time series at three, and Northwestern has won three of the four meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten. Chicago's Big Ten Team was victorious in the only meeting at Welsh-Ryan Arena, an 80-60 blowout on Feb. 26, 2015. Northwestern shot 46 percent and was led by Lauren Douglas' 16 points in the last outing between the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights.

FINAL TIME AT WELSH-RYAN
Northwestern will take the floor at the current Welsh-Ryan Arena for the final time on Thursday. After the men's basketball regular season concludes on March 5, the arena will undergo a complete $110 million renovation scheduled for completion before the 2018-19 season. The Wildcats will compete next season at Evanston Township High School's historic Beardsley Gym.

A REMARKABLE CLASS
Northwestern seniors Nia Coffey, Ashley Deary, Lauren Douglas, Christen Inman and Allie Tuttle have presided over a complete transformation of the women's basketball program. The senior class has accounted for 76 wins together, the most since the 1993 class had 82 over its four years. The group led Northwestern to the NCAA tournament in 2014, the first appearance for the program since 1997. Coffey, Deary, Douglas and Inman are all in the 1,000 point club, and Coffey and Deary have cemented their names in the program record book.