Northwestern’s struggles to close out games have been well-documented. The Wildcats have blown five games this season where they held the lead with less than five minutes to play and nine contests where they led at the half.
In Monday’s 62-53 victory over Minnesota, an NCAA tournament bubble team, NU grabbed a 4-3 edge with 17:34 left in the first half and stayed in front until the final buzzer.
“The atmosphere in the locker room was just totally different today, ” said freshman forward Brittany Orban, who finished with a game-high 15 points. “We knew we had to come out and have that spark and intensity in the second half. That is what kept us ahead the entire second half – we just went at them. We didn’t go back on our heels and wait for things to happen.”
The extra effort paid off on the defensive end in particular. The Cats bounced back from giving up 161 combined points against Ohio State and Indiana by limiting one of the Big Ten’s best outside shooting teams to just 4-of-18 from the perimeter. Minnesota guard Katie Ohm, the Big Ten leader in 3-pointers, connected on just 1-of-7 attempts.
Sophomore center Amy Jaeschke made the most of her three-inch height advantage over Minnesota center Ashley Ellis-Milan, who shot 30.8 percent from the field and pulled down only four rebounds. Jaeschke finished with five blocks.
“I thought Amy played a great college basketball game tonight,” coach Joe McKeown said. “Her numbers are not indicative of how much she changed the game in the paint on both ends. She took away all their inside (shots), she had early blocks.”
One of the Cats problems at the end of games has been poor free throw shooting.
In an overtime loss to Clemson, NU was up by three with five seconds to go and junior point guard Jenny Eckhart at the line for two shots. But both missed their mark, and the Tigers sank a half-court prayer to send the game into an extra period.
But on Monday, the Cats made 16-of-18 from the charity stripe – including two by Eckhart – and were perfect on all six tries in the final 50 seconds.
NU’s balanced attack also played a big part in the final minutes, as Minnesota could not key in on just one player. Three different Cats scored in double figures, including Jaeschke for the first time in her last seven games.
“It was just a team effort,” McKeown said. “When you see balanced scoring like that – for us to have three players in double figures and (senior guard) Erin (Dickerson) right on the bubble there with nine, that’s really good for us.”
NU’s ability to respond prevented Minnesota from going on an extended run – the Golden Gophers never scored more than six consecutive points after intermission.
While NU was in the midst of a seven-minute stretch without a field goal, it bore down defensively and held Minnesota without a basket of its own for six minutes. When the Gophers cut the deficit to single digits with five minutes left, the closest they had been since the first minute of the half, Orban stepped up and hit two free throws on the next possession.
Freshman forward Maggie Mocchi scored five points and had one steal in the last four minutes. Her 3-pointer came after a Minnesota score, and the steal after she had turned it over in the backcourt. As a result, the Gophers could not build any substantial momentum.
“They came down and hit big shots,” Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. “We went on some runs and tried to close the gap a few times, and they hit very timely shots when they needed to. That kind of deflates you a little bit.”
