In Northwestern’s first game in the new-Welsh Ryan arena, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, besting Lewis in a preseason exhibition 84-69.

“This is my eleventh year as head coach and I coached a lot of games in the old Welsh-Ryan, so today was special for me and my family,” coach Joe McKeown said. “What a great place…it was just awesome to be out there.”

NU started off its 2018-2019 season on fire, relying on its starters to get out to an early lead. After the Flyers cut their lead to 7-5 early in the first quarter, the Cats went on a 10-0 run, their best scoring stretch of the game.

Three-pointers by sophomore guard Lindsay Pulliam and junior center Abi Scheid extended the NU lead before freshman guard Veronica Burton hit a jumper in the paint.

The run was capped off by another basket from Pulliam. The sophomore guard, who led NU in scoring last season, dropped 18 points in the opener and went 1-3 on three pointers, an area she said she worked on improving in the offseason.

“We did really well on offense,” Pulliam said. “Just moving the ball, sharing the ball, letting everybody do what they do…shoving the ball down the court and going hard at them.”

Scheid led the team with 22 points and added five rebounds. Junior forward Amber Jamison, who look a leave of absence from the University last year, scored 15 points in her first game back. Preseason All-Big Ten honoree Pallas Kuniayi-Akpanah got into foul trouble and ended with nine points and seven rebounds.

The Cats outscored Lewis 17-5 in fastbreak points and assisted on 24 baskets throughout the game. In addition, NU turned its defense into offense. The Cats forced 16 turnovers and ended up scoring 19 points off of their takeaways.

Every player on their roster saw the court except for redshirt freshman Lauryn Satterwhite, who is still battling through injuries after missing all of last season. Burton was the only freshman who started for the Cats, while fellow rookies Jess Sancataldo, Sydney Wood and Courtney Shaw all saw the court.

The Cats have a tough road ahead as they will face Green Bay and Duke to begin the season. However, Pulliam believes the Cats have what it takes to reach their goals: to finish in the top half of the Big Ten and to make the NCAA tournament.

“We hope this season is going to reassure people that we are a team to compete with,” Kuniayi-Akpanah said. “We really want to go to the tournament and make people realize that Northwestern is back.”

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