Women’s Basketball

Northwestern fought until the final buzzer, but couldn’t quite knock off Ohio State for a second time this season.

The No. 7 Buckeyes (16-4, 8-1 Big Ten) pulled out a back-and-forth victory, 76-73, over NU (13-8, 2-7) on Thursday night. The loss was a missed opportunity for the Cats to pick up a big resume-boosting victory.

“We really just fell apart in the last couple minutes,” said junior guard Christen Inman. “We played a really good game up until then, so building off of the 38 good minutes we played and carrying that over (will be important).”

With 2:01 left in the game, NU went ahead 67-66 on a pair of free throws by senior guard Maggie Lyon. Ohio State then went on a 10-3 run, aided by three NU turnovers, to put the game away.

Ohio State star guard Kelsey Mitchell dominated the second half to lead the Buckeyes to victory. The sophomore scored 26 of her 27 points in the final two quarters.

“(Mitchell) made big shots…gotta give her credit,” coach Joe McKeown said. “She just keeps coming at you. I thought we did a pretty good job on her too, especially in the first half.”

Junior forward Nia Coffey led the way for NU with 23 points, and junior guard Christen Inman added 18. Freshman forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds.

With 22 seconds to go, Lyon had a look at a 3-pointer that would’ve pulled the Cats within a point, but the shot rimmed out, and with it, NU’s hopes at sweeping Ohio State this season.

“Ohio State’s a really good team, and I think if we can play 40 full minutes of how we played the first 38 (tonight), then we’ll beat any team in the league,” Inman said.

The first quarter was extremely sloppy, as each team committed six turnovers. NU held Ohio State to just 13 points but was only able to build a 5-point lead.

Unfortunately for NU, foul trouble became a major issue in the second quarter. Junior guard Ashley Deary, who had a career-high 28 points and 10 assists against Indiana, picked up her third foul and was forced to the bench midway through the quarter. Then, with less than a minute until halftime, Inman picked up her third foul as well.

Yet, Northwestern played Ohio State just about shot for shot in the second, and entered the break with a 34-30 advantage over the Buckeyes. Coffey put up 13 points in the first 20 minutes and was the only player on either team with double digits.

The third quarter was dominated by big runs. Ohio State got it started with an 8-0 run, but the Cats responded with a 14-0 run minutes later. When the quarter ended, NU’s lead was unchanged at 4 points.

However, NU was unable to hang with Mitchell and the Buckeyes in the final period, and were outscored 26-19. It was close down to the wire, but Ohio State made just enough shots to pull out the win.

The loss was the Cats’ fourth straight and dropped the team to 2-7 in Big Ten contests. It was another game NU had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, but was unable to finish.

Despite the team’s continued struggles, McKeown said he still believes the Cats have time to turn things around.

“I’ll bring this up all weekend to our team: last year, we went undefeated in February,” McKeown said. “February’s gonna be a big month for us, and I think we have the resolve and the resiliency to do it.”

The Cats will look to shake off the loss on Sunday when they host Iowa.

This story was updated with postgame quotes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @WillRagatz