After getting burned by No. 6 Ohio State and Penn State, a mid-week trip to the Minnesota tundra will come as a relief for Northwestern.
When the Wildcats (11-4, 2-2) go up against the Gophers (9-5, 2-1) on Thursday, they will face the worst shooting team in the Big Ten. Through 14 games, Minnesota is shooting 38 percent from the field and has averaged 53 points in its five losses.
In NU’s last two games, No. 6 Ohio State and Penn State lit up Welsh-Ryan Arena for 86 and 88 points, respectively. The barrage was surprising, considering the Cats had held all their previous opponents to less than 70 points.
“Defensively, not much has changed,” junior guard Beth Marshall said. “We need to communicate more, and we can’t let each other get hit by screens-or we have to help better. Just little things that we can watch on film and then fix.”
NU held Minnesota to 53 points in a nine-point win near the end of last year, one of three conference victories for the Cats. The Gophers had a rough night, shooting 35 percent from the field and 22 percent from the beyond the arc.
“It was a big confidence booster for us,” sophomore forward Brittany Orban said of last year’s win. “To know that we (were) able to compete in the Big Ten.”
The win came in the comforts of Welsh-Ryan Arena, but toppling the Gophers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis will be more challenging. NU hasn’t won there since 2000, and Minnesota comes into the game with an 8-1 mark at home.
The Cats have not been intimidated by opposing crowds so far this season. NU is 3-0 away from Evanston, with wins over Toledo, Kansas State and Michigan.
“It’s no longer a fear to go play someone at their gym,” Orban said. “It’s just a matter of bringing our game and whatever we can do.”
This year the Cats want to focus on their own play instead of relying on the Gophers to shoot poorly.
“(A team) can be on one night and the next night a team can be totally off,” Orban said.
“The last two teams have caught us on very ‘on’ nights. We’ve just got to continue working on our defense. You don’t hope for someone to be off, but then again you hope that your shots will go in a lot more than theirs will.”
With two Big Ten wins, NU is in a position it has not been in for more than a decade: in the middle of the conference standings. The Cats are scrapping for postseason eligibility and, in a year full of parity in the Big Ten, NU has a fighting chance.
“Anybody in the Big Ten can beat anybody else,” freshman forward Kendall Hackney said. “I don’t care what your record is. You’ve just got to go out there, and whoever plays the hardest and plays the best is going to win.”
