Trailing by only 10 points at halftime, Northwestern (5-17, 1-10 Big Ten) imploded in the second half, losing to Purdue (15-7, 8-3) 70-44.
The 26-point loss comes just two weeks after the Wildcats fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes by 28.
The Cats looked like a completely different team from the squad that fell to the Boilermakers by 10 in overtime earlier this season. Starting NU center Amy Jaeschke, who recorded 11 points and seven blocks in the previous matchup, fouled out with six minutes remaining after scoring only nine points and committing eight turnovers.
“I need to be stronger with the ball and make stronger pivots, because I was kind of off-balance when they started double-teaming me,” Jaeschke said.
Turnovers plagued the Cats throughout. NU had 10 more miscues than Purdue, 23 in total. The Boilermakers were consistently able to capitalize on the free possessions for easy buckets to extend their lead in the second half.
“One of our Achilles’ heels is obviously taking care of the ball,” said NU point guard Jenny Eckhart.
NU’s score of 44 points marks the second-lowest scoring output of the season and the third straight game of less than 45 points. The Cats haven’t scored more than 50 points in four of their last eight games.
NU never got into a rhythm offensively. Eckhart, who led the team in scoring with 12 points on perfect shooting the last time around against the Boilermakers, made just two first-half field goals Sunday.
“I didn’t see quite as many opportunities there,” Eckhart said. “They double-teamed a lot in the post, and I just wasn’t able to find the opening for kick-outs as much as I was last time.”
The Cats stayed within single-digits of the Boilermakers for most of the first half and trailed by no more than eight until the period’s final minute. NU was poised to cut the lead to six with 52 seconds remaining in the half.
But Cats forward Kristin Cartwright missed the front end of a one-and-one, which Purdue turned into a two-point jumper on the other end, completing a potential four-point swing. Cartwright also missed a key free throw in Thursday’s one-point loss against Illinois.
Poor free throw shooting proved to be another issue for the Cats, who missed seven of their 15 attempts from the line. Purdue, by comparison, made 19-of-24 on free throws.
Purdue never looked back in the second half, and NU never got within single-digits again. Although the Cats were able to slow down forward Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, who scorched them for 22 points in the previous game, the increased defensive attention to Wisdom-Hylton allowed two other Boilermakers to score in double digits.
Purdue put forth a similar effort on Jaeschke, who was double-teamed whenever she had the ball. But the rest of the team was unable to pick up the slack. Only two other Cats, Cartwright and senior forward Ellen Jaeschke, made more than two shots.
“If we were able to click on all cylinders for a significant period of time, I think we’d be very hard to defend,” Eckhart said. “But I think we still haven’t hit that yet.”
