Northwestern went into the locker room down 13 on the heels of a 13-0 Illinois run that spanned more than seven minutes in the first half.
But after a 6-0 and two 7-0 runs to begin the second half, the Wildcats surged past the Fighting Illini in a contest marked by streaks.
In the game’s decisive run, Illinois scored nine straight midway through the second half to take an eight-point advantage en route to a 73-65 victory Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“We had some situations that we were able to make a run, but we weren’t able to stop their runs,” NU coach Beth Combs said. “I think the ballgame was decided the last 10 minutes of the first half.”
With the score tied at 19 and more than 10 minutes left in the first half, Illinois (10-3, 2-1 Big Ten) was called for a lane violation. Enraged Illini coach Theresa Grentz called a timeout and met her team on the court before it could reach the bench. A 13-0 Illinois run ensued, which kept the Illini ahead until midway through the second half.
Like Thursday’s win against Michigan, NU (4-13, 1-3) came out a different team in the second half.
In the first, the Cats were outscored 34-21, shot 33 percent and committed 12 turnovers. In the second, NU outscored Illinois 44-39 and shot 63 percent.
“I’m very proud of our effort today, ” Combs said. “But effort is not always going to be good enough, and we need to take the next step and move forward.”
Junior forward Ifeoma Okonkwo led the Cats with 19 points to go along with four rebounds, assists and steals.
Sophomore guard A.J. Glasauer came off the bench for a career-high 10 assists and added six points and five rebounds.
“We’re always good when we come from behind, down at halftime,” Glasauer said. “We were close, but we couldn’t close it and go the last step.”
Illinois, which shot 47 percent for the game, outscored NU 14-2 in fast break points and 25-10 in points off turnovers.
The Illini one-two punch of Angelina Williams and Tiffany Guthrie scored a combined 45 points to go along with six assists and two turnovers.
The Cats continued their rebounding struggles, with the Illini winning the battle of the boards 39-29. The deficit was almost four more than NU’s conference-worst average of minus 6.4 per game. The Cats are 10th in the Big Ten in total rebounds per game with an average of 35.5 a contest.
“It seems to be the same things every game, transition, penetration and offensive rebounding,” Combs said.
Turnovers also helped seal NU’s fate. Illinois forced 19 turnovers, including seven by senior guard Samantha McComb. She had only seven turnovers in the last three games.
“They mixed it up on us, they were playing man and zone,” McComb said. “I need to do a better job reading what they’re in, and we need to make adjustments.
The Cats did improve from the free throw line. After shooting 46 percent and 52 percent from the line the last two games, NU made 12 of its 17 attempts.
The loss was the 10th straight for NU against Illinois and drops the Cats’ record to 1-6 following Big Ten wins since 2000.
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
