Victories don’t always have to be pretty. Northwestern learned that the hard way on Sunday, beating Chicago State 75-73 on the shoulders of a career game from senior center Amy Jaeschke.
The Wildcats (4-0) trailed for a majority of the afternoon, including a 14-point deficit early in the second half. NU led 10-8 two minutes into the game and did not regain the lead until a free throw by senior guard Beth Marshall with five-and-a-half minutes left gave the Cats a 62-61 lead.
Jaeschke put together her first career triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks. Marshall added 22 points with sophomore forward Kendall Hackney scoring 12.
Jaeschke earned co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in her career for her effort against Chicago State, and her performance was the first triple-double for NU since 1998. The last Big Ten player to accomplish the feat was Iowa’s Kachine Alexander in 2009, with whom Jaeschke shares player of the week honors this week.
The Cougars dominated the first half with three big runs that extended their lead to as high as 15 at one point. NU shot 52 percent from the field in the first half but allowed Chicago State to grab 15 offensive rebounds, four more than the Cats had total in the half. With momentum on their side, Chicago State took a 46-37 lead into the break.
The second half started poorly for NU as the Cougars increased their lead to 14 points two minutes into the half. Jaeschke responded by scoring seven straight points to start an 11-0 run for the Cats.
With 10 minutes to go, Chicago State had built their lead back up to eight, but the next eight minutes saw the Cats go on a 16-2 run to take a 6-point lead of their own. The Cougars then matched the Cats stride for stride in the final minute of play, bringing the deficit within a basket for most of the last minute of play. Two free throws from Marshall with one second left iced the game, though the Cougars hit a three-pointer as time expired.
Once again, the charity stripe made the difference in the game as Chicago State shot 43 percent from the line, including missing all four of their second half free throws, while the Cats shot 72 percent, including 9-of-14 in the last five minutes of the game.
NU heads to California for Thanksgiving break and will play St. Mary’s on Friday and BYU on Saturday in the St. Mary’s Tournament.
