HARRISONBURG, Va. – Northwestern continued its dazzling postseason run with a 74-69 wire-to-wire win at James Madison in the WNIT semifinals on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
 
The Wildcats have advanced the furthest in any postseason tournament in program history and advanced to the semifinal round of a national tournament for the first time in head coach Joe McKeown's career. 
 
Northwestern improved its record to 21-14 and has won 21 games in the season for just the seventh time in program history, with the most recent occurrence in 2015 when it totaled 23 wins. 
 
The #B1GCats will face Arizona in Tucson in the WNIT Championship on Saturday. Tip-off will be at at 2 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
 
All five starters scored in double-digits in a balanced offensive effort. Sophomore guard Lindsey Pulliam led the way with 16 points, followed by junior Abi Scheid, who dropped 14 on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. 
 
Senior Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah recorded her 19th double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, setting the Northwestern single-season record, and breaking a tie she previously held with her own mark from last season and Nia Coffey's effort in 2016-16. 
 
First-year guard Veronica Burton filled up the stat sheet with 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep, five assists, four rebounds and five steals, tying a career high. She was a game high +18 on the night. 
 
Sophomore guard Jordan Hamilton rounded out the scoring effort from the starters with 12 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 mark from the charity stripe. 
 
Northwestern grabbed an early 3-0 lead on a Burton triple and never once relinquished its advantage. The 'Cats blitzed the Dukes in the first frame, jumping out to a commanding 19-5 lead behind two threes from Scheid. 
 
Northwestern kept James Madison  in the second quarter at bay by getting to the line and receiving points from Hamilton, Kunaiyi-Akpanah and junior Abbie Wolf.
 
Scheid hit two more big three-pointers early in the third quarter, with the second extending the lead to 40-29. The Dukes eventually cut the lead to five, but Hamilton responded out of a timeout with two tough layups to key an 8-0 run that helped the 'Cats build up a 57-44 lead. 
 
The #B1GCats ran away in the fourth quarter and took a 15 point lead with 2:57 to play. While the hosts did their best to come back, Sydney Wood, Pulliam and Scheid hit enough free throws to seal the win. 
 

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