In a night that recognized the hard work, dedication, and devotion of Northwestern’s five seniors – guard Jess Sancataldo, guard Lauryn Satterwhite, small forward Sydney Wood, guard Veronica Burton, and forward Courtney Shaw – the Wildcats celebrated accordingly. 

It was only appropriate that Shaw, “one of the most overlooked players in the Big Ten” according to Burton, opened up the show with a layup 30 seconds into the game. Every eligible senior (as Wood remains injured) scored in the first quarter, but it was first-year Jillian Brown who poured in six points out of NU’s 17 to push the Cats up two.

And then Satterwhite went off.

About halfway through the quarter, Satterwhite scored 10 straight points for NU, going 5-for-5 from the field including 2-for-2 from three. And although Burton and Shaw were a little quiet on the offensive end, they contributed to the senior night party with four assists and five rebounds, respectively. With Satterwhite’s stellar senior second quarter, the Cats moved their halftime lead to 34-25. 

Coming out of the break, Burton started to find her rhythm a little bit, scoring five out of NU’s first seven points. Shaw continued to absorb rebounds in typical fashion, making an incredible impact without going completely noticed on the scoring end. As for overall scoring against Purdue, it was a defensive battle, with both teams scoring 15 points each, and the Cats’ lead remained at nine.

It started to become a bit of a game in the final period. The lead dropped to six after a Boilermaker 3-pointer, but then it stopped becoming a bit of a game behind buckets from Satterwhite, Shaw and junior Laya Hartmann. Then Satterwhite kept scoring. So did Burton, and so did Shaw. The seniors truly shone tonight and carried this team to a victory. Satterwhite finished with a game-high 20, Burton finished with 12, and Shaw finished a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Going into tonight, this senior class had a win percentage of 68% from 2018-2022, second best in program history. After this win against Purdue, that percentage can go up a little bit, all thanks to a special senior class.

Takeaways

• Satterwhite second quarter burst helps Cats break away

Lauryn Satterwhite made her mark on senior night in the second quarter tonight going perfect from the field and scoring 12 of NU’s 17 points. It was a two-point game after the first quarter and after the Satterwhite outburst, NU was up by nine. Both teams scored 15 points in the third, so Satterwhite’s 12 points in the second could have been the difference of the game.

• Courtney Shaw puts on classic performance 

In a night celebrating Shaw and her other fellow seniors, she put up 14 rebounds and 10 points. It is a representation of her time at Northwestern as a gritty forward who battled with anyone she came into contact with, grabbed rebounds, and played her role as her team needed it. It truly was a classic Courtney Shaw performance tonight.

• Another important Big Ten win before season’s end 

It’s easy to forget about the importance of tonight’s victory behind the festivity of senior night. Now with only one final game left in the regular season, against a borderline top-25 Nebraska team, every victory counts. The case for an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament is on the brink for the Cats, so tonight’s win against a middle-of-the-pack Purdue team is all the more important.

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Twitter: @KLever0ne15

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