Women’s Basketball

It wasn’t its flashiest of efforts, but Northwestern got the job done.

The Wildcats took down Ohio State in a 69-55 victory in Columbus, the eighth straight win in what is now their longest streak of the season.

The result tied the all-time program record for victories in a single year, set during the 1978-79 campaign.

Senior forward Abi Scheid led the Wildcats with 19 points. After a quiet start to the night, junior guard Lindsey Pulliam drew a handful of key fouls down the stretch and hit a number of key shots to finish with 16 points.

Ohio State’s Dorkha Juhasz came out firing early, scoring seven of the Buckeyes’ first 12 points, and the Cats responded offensively on their end, but had some trouble taking care of the ball. They turned it over five times within the game’s opening six minutes.

The Buckeyes passed their way around NU’s zone and worked their possessions late into the shot clock, taking a two-point lead into the second quarter and eventually building that up to six.

But as the teams continued to trade blows in the second, that six-point advantage was the highest Ohio State would build. The Cats had an answer for every Buckeye bucket, shooting a whopping 64 percent from the field in the first half.

Pulliam drew two big foul calls just before the halftime break and drained all five of her attempts from the line to put the Cats up 36-33 after two quarters.

NU’s defense kept Ohio State without a made field goal for the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first three minutes of the third.

The Buckeyes stayed in the game by converting on opportunities in the paint, but a 9-0 Cats run and a huge banked 3-pointer from deep by Pulliam put NU in a comfortable position with an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cats didn’t lose their lead during the final frame, keeping Ohio State without quality field goals for the last stretch and building as an advantage as large as 17 points.

Takeaways:

1. Abi Scheid proved why she’s one of the country’s best shooters.
The Buckeyes kept Scheid relatively quiet during the first quarter, but let her get open on a handful of key opportunities in the second. The senior shot 4-for-4 from field-goal range and hit three triples to lead all scorers with 11 points at the half. The Cats as a team shot an impressive 57 percent from field-goal range — their second-best shooting performance of the season — and it was Scheid who led them, finishing 7-for-11 from the floor.

2. Basketball is a game of runs.
And this game was defined by them. Dorkha Juhasz hopped out to a quick start for the Buckeyes, scoring 7 straight points, but then did not score for the rest of the first half. Ohio State struggled to put together a consistent string of points in the middle of the game, and the Cats took advantage of it, going on short scoring streaks of their own. Sophomores Sydney Wood and Courtney Shaw spearheaded a 9-0 run late in the third to help NU build a lead it wouldn’t lose.

3. A share of the Big Ten regular-season title may await.
NU came into this game on the brink of clinching a share of the program’s first Big Ten title since the 1989-90 season. The Cats did their part, and what happens next now rests on the night’s late game between No. 7 Maryland and Purdue. The Cats claim a share of the conference crown with a Terrapins loss.

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