Down three points to Purdue six minutes into the second half, Northwestern was in danger of losing back-to-back games for the first time this season. That is until the Wildcats caught fire.
Sophomore forward Kendall Hackney and her teammates launched a 17-2 run to propel the Wildcats to their first conference win of the season.
“We just played great defense for about a four or five minute stretch where I thought we made every right decision defensively,” coach Joe McKeown said. “That was a big key in the run. We just shut Purdue down during that stretch.”
Trailing 46-43, NU (12-3, 1-1 Big Ten) scored seven straight points, the first four thanks to layups by Hackney and senior center Amy Jaeschke and the last three coming when Hackney hit a shot from behind the arc. Overall, the Cats went on a 30-9 run to take a 73-55 lead with approximately two and a half minutes remaining.
“In the second half, the difference was we really just kind of clicked,” Hackney said. “We were flowing. Everything was meshing together really well.”
While the team’s normal standouts, including Jaeschke, Hackney and senior point guard Beth Marshall, had their fingerprints all over the Cats’ second-half run, NU also received significant help from reserve guard Allison Mocchi. The junior notched six points, three rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist during the team’s run to help the Cats take control of the game in the second half.
NU’s impressive run helped the team survive a lights-out performance from Boilermaker guard Courtney Moses. The freshman scored 22 points, making 8-of-14 from the field, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc.
“We just had to know where she was,” Hackney said. “She was really the only one who was knocking down most of their shots.”
The Cats were led by Jaeschke, who came back from a tough performance against Indiana last week with a stellar game against Purdue (9-5, 0-2).
“She played well in Indiana, she just didn’t make shots that she normally makes,” McKeown said. “Against Purdue to have a line where she went 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocked shots and played hard. It was one of her best performances against a really talented front line.”
The Cats were in need of a win after a frustrating performance against Indiana, in which NU led 50-40 with 11:40 remaining. However, the Cats surrendered 14 of the game’s next 20 points before falling 71-69 to the Hoosiers.
NU suffered from sloppy play in Bloomington, turning the ball over 23 times. The Cats also ran into foul trouble, with Hackney fouling out with more than four minutes remaining in the contest. The Cats also sent Hoosiers guard Jori Davis to the line a remarkable 18 times.
“She kept driving and making sure she was throwing her body into us so that she could draw those fouls,” Jaeschke said. “That was the difference in the game, sending her to the line too much.”
NU’s only three losses of the 2010-2011 season have come on the road, but only by a combined 10 points.
At Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Cats have been perfect, winning all 10 home games.
“It’s always really important to protect your home court,” Jaeschke said. “To have the local fans come out and see you win every single time is pretty big. Hopefully, it will help us gain more followers and what not. It’s pretty exciting to go senior year and not have had a loss at home yet.”
NU started the year on a surge, winning its first six games of the season, including several key home wins, most notably, an impressive triumph over LSU. The Cats were boosted in that win by 17 rebounds from junior forward Brittany Orban.
“She’s the hardest working player in our program,” McKeown said. “She just out-works people. Against LSU, she had (17) rebounds which still amazes me. 18, 19 points. We just feed off her energy, her toughness.”
NU ultimately ended its non-conference schedule with an 11-2 record, a slight pickup from last year’s non-conference performance.
Now, however, the real challenge begins. Last season, the Cats went 7-11 in Big Ten play, and will need to improve upon that mark if they want to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time under McKeown.
“You’re in the conference season now,” McKeown said. “Every game is important. You talk to most coaches in the Big Ten, and they probably tell you it’s one of those leagues where everybody can beat everybody on a given night. It’s a grind-it-out conference. You have got to be ready to play.”
