Women’s Basketball: Northwestern rolls over IUPUI in NIT second round
March 23, 2014
It was a second-round Women’s National Invitational Tournament game for Northwestern, but it looked like a flashback to the non-conference schedule.
The Wildcats (17-15) rolled the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars (23-10) Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena by a score of 88-52, their largest margin of victory this season.
NU’s only other win by more than 30 points this year came against lowly Loyola back on Dec. 14, a 90-57 road trouncing.
The Cats lit up the scoreboard using a three-pronged attack of sophomore guard Maggie Lyon, freshman guard Christen Inman, and freshman forward Nia Coffey.
Lyon had 19 points, Inman contributed 18, and Coffey added 14. The trio also combined for 16 rebounds, 10 assists, six steals and three blocks.
The offensive outburst allowed some of the Cats’ usual key contributors to earn a well-deserved rest. Starting point guard Ashley Deary, averaging 32.5 minutes per game this season as a freshman, logged just 16 in this game.
She ceded most of that time to junior guard Karly Roser, who played an unusually high 22 minutes.
Seldom-used senior guard La’Terria Taylor posted 12 minutes played, and every player on NU’s roster saw the court at least once.
As a team, the Cats had five blocked shots, pushing their total this year to 215 and breaking the Big Ten record of 211 blocks in a season held by the 2006-07 Michigan State Spartans.
NU will face Indiana in the third round of the tournament Thursday in Bloomington, Ind. The Cats bested the Hoosiers earlier this season, winning 58-52 on the road on Jan. 30.
Email: RobertPillote2017@u.
Twitter: @BobbyPillote
