Northwestern went into the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday and showed it belonged on the same court as Penn State. What the Wildcats failed to show, however, is that they could beat the Big Ten’s top team, falling 66-56 to the Nittany Lions.
“There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the game,” junior forward Brittany Orban said. “We knew we could hang with them, but they had a run in the second half that we just weren’t able to match up with.”
NU trailed for nearly the entire first half, but a 3-point play by senior center Amy Jaeschke gave the Cats a 31-30 lead heading into the locker room.
The Cats took that lead into the second half and quickly expanded it courtesy of a 7-0 run early in the stanza. A 3-pointer by Orban put NU ahead 38-32 three-and-a-half minutes into the second stanza.
That lead proved short-lived. Penn State point guard Alex Bentley sprinted up court following Orban’s three-pointer and fed the ball to Renee Womack for an easy layup. Then, after Cats point guard Beth Marshall missed a jumper, Nittany Lions guard Maggie Lucas came back and hit a three on the fast-break. Penn State ultimately went on a 14-0 run to establish a lead that would last for the remainder of the afternoon.
According to Jaeschke, that run was fueled by the transition game. Overall, the Nittany Lions had 16 points on the fast break, compared to just two for the Cats.
“I definitely think it was the transition,” Jaeschke said. “They were really able to get into the flow of what they are comfortable doing, which is going in transition. They got a lot of momentum that way, and the crowd really got into it.”
The Cats did have their chances late. After sophomore forward Kendall Hackney’s fast-break layup brought NU within nine, the Nittany Lions missed five consecutive shots. The Cats were unable to take advantage, however, missing two of their four free-throw attempts.
Finally, a turnover by sophomore point guard Tailor Jones led to a fast-break 3-pointer by Penn State guard Zhaque Gray, which put the Nittany Lions up 62-52. That shot would prove a fatal blow to NU.
The Cats’ late collapse overshadowed another fine performance by Jaeschke. The senior notched 24 points and 14 rebounds, marking her 13th double-double of the season. Although she made just six of her 17 attempts from the field, Jaeschke sunk 12-of-15 free-throw attempts.
“My shot wasn’t falling from the field tonight,” Jaeschke said. “I knew that within my first couple shots, so I really tried to just stay down low and get to the foul line as much as I could.”
Orban put in a stellar performance of her own, with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
But Marshall struggled in her return to the court after sitting out last weekend’s win over Minnesota with an eye injury. The senior made just one-of-eight attempts from the field.
Marshall was hardly the only one. Pretty much anyone wearing a purple and white jersey had a hard time hitting shots Sunday. NU made just 30 percent of its shots from the field, and was a dreadful 5-of-23 from behind the arc.
“Our biggest problem more than the shots, which we forced a little bit, was we just had too many turnovers at the wrong time,” coach Joe McKeown said. “It really came in spurts. When they made that run, we’re up six and all the sudden, we’re down by eight. That was a big stretch.”
The Cats committed two cardinal sins Sunday: They turned the ball over 21 times and missed a couple of free throws towards the end of the game.
“That was a huge portion of the game,” Orban said, referring to the free throws. “We got a lot of good stops. We cracked down on the defensive end, but we’d shoot ourselves in the foot, if you want to put it that way, by making some stupid turnover, throwing the ball away.”
Penn State turned the ball over seven fewer times than NU, and dominated the Cats in the paint 28-16.
The Nittany Lions had three players finish in double figures. Lucas led Penn State with 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
“She’s definitely a sharp-shooter,” Orban said. “We kept our hands up in her face tonight, but she got a few shots. Maybe we left her too open but overall it’s a great challenge, being against someone who can shoot like that.”
Gray added 12 points, and forward Mia Nickson contributed 11 of her own.
Lucas was the only player on either team to make more shots than she missed, evidence of Sunday’s offensive futility.
The Cats had to deal with their toughest road atmosphere of the season Sunday, playing in front of 11,288 fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“It always pumps you up no matter where you’re playing,” Orban said. “It was a great environment to be in.”
NU’s next match will come on Thursday, when it takes on Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
“Once the tournament starts, the records are 0-0,” Orban said. “It’s a new season. So we have to go out there. We’ve hung with every team in the Big Ten this season. It’s not like we were just an out-matched team so we have to go into the tournament being confident in ourselves and knowing we can play with anyone on any night.”
