The soft snowfall outside belied the nature of the intense conference battle going on inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern (12-6, 2-3 Big Ten) prevailed over Wisconsin (9-8, 2-3), 74-58, in a game that was hard-fought throughout with three ties and five lead changes. The matchup was the Wildcats’ third in seven days and their only win of that stretch.
“I think we felt (tired) in the first 10 minutes of the game,” coach Joe McKeown said. “We just couldn’t get that extra burst.”
Taking advantage of the Cats’ fatigue, Wisconsin forward Michala Johnson completely dominated NU. The Badgers’ star accounted for more than half of their offensive output by posting a career high 32 points, to go along with 10 rebounds.
“With a player like that, our game plan was to front her,” sophomore forward Lauren Douglas said, “and have help on the side collapsing on her when she got the ball.”
But the rest of the Wisconsin roster struggled offensively, and Johnson herself was complicit in committing nine of Wisconsin’s costly 23 turnovers. NU turned those miscues into 27 points while giving up the ball only 10 times.
Once again at the heart of the Cats’ well-oiled offense was freshman point guard Ashley Deary. The floor general steadily guided the team with nine assists and played with tremendous effort from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
On one particular play, the 5-foot-4 Deary managed to box out the 6-foot-3 Johnson for a rebound.
“I think Deary made great decisions with the ball tonight,” McKeown said. “She had the ball a lot, and I think we showed a little more patience than we did against Illinois. … For us to be a better team, that’s how we have to play.”
Benefitting from Deary’s poise were Douglas, freshman forward Nia Coffey and freshman guard Christen Inman, each of whom scored 17 points.
Douglas provided a vital offensive spark off the bench in the first half and was instrumental to the Cats keeping the score tied at halftime despite a slow shooting start.
Coffey led the charge in the second half when at one point she scored 9 unanswered points for NU.
Inman had another efficient night, shooting 8-9 from the floor to help lead the Cats to a 50 percent shooting percentage.
“We’re a good shooting team. We know that can make shots,” Douglas said. “It’s just a matter of getting good shots and making the ones we’re supposed to make.”
The superior accuracy from the floor was NU’s key to victory, as the Cats were heavily out-rebounded, 41-26, conceding 15 offensive rebounds to the Badgers.
“Obviously I’m concerned about it,” McKeown said. “I’m concerned about every game we play … We’re not a great rebounding team.”
Despite his concerns, McKeown was enthusiastic about his team’s effort.
“Just a hard fought game,” McKeown said. “I just love the way we finished the game. Wisconsin made a run in the second half, but we showed a lot of poise when they made a run and came right back at them … That was the difference in the game.”
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