Women’s Basketball

After not playing up to her standards for most of the Big Ten season, Ashley Deary broke out with a huge performance in Northwestern’s hard-fought 91-84 loss to Indiana.

The junior guard nearly recorded a triple-double for NU (13-7, 2-6 Big Ten) on Sunday against the Hoosiers (12-8, 4-4), finishing with a career-high 28 points to go along with 10 assists and 7 rebounds. It was Deary’s first game with double-digit points since she scored 15 against Nebraska on Jan. 3.

“The past few games have been a little rough (for me),” Deary said. “I’ve had some ups and downs with turnovers and just finding my rhythm in Big Ten play. Today was just all in for me and for us as a team.”

Deary played the entire game, and was constantly active on both ends of the floor. To go along with her offensive explosion, the NCAA’s leader in steals added four takeaways.

“I thought Ashley Deary played a great college basketball game tonight, really proud of her,” coach Joe McKeown said.

Although NU lost its third consecutive game, Deary kept her team in the contest throughout. She was the only Wildcat to shoot above 50 percent from the floor, as she connected on 11 of her 18 attempts.

Deary scored her 28 points from all over the court. She hit three shots from beyond the arc and converted mid-range jumpers and acrobatic layups.

Above all, Deary showed a great deal of heart in the loss. Of her seven rebounds, four came on the offensive end. On one play in the fourth quarter, Deary missed a contested layup, stole the ball from the Indiana player who had gotten the rebound and scored on an even tougher lay-in.

“Even at halftime, when we were down, I felt like she was doing the right things as far as running our team, making defensive plays,” McKeown said. “I thought she played at the level that I’ve seen her at in the past … I think she really did everything to help our team win today.”

This article and corresponding photo caption were updated to reflect a stat correction involving Ashley Deary’s point total.

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Twitter: @WillRagatz