After a comeback overtime victory over UIC on Thursday, Northwestern triumphed over Omaha in a showdown Sunday in Welsh-Ryan Arena, earning coach Joe McKeown his program-record 252nd win.
The Wildcats (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) raced off to a 17-0 start and comfortably defeated the Mavericks (1-2, 0-0 Summit League) 87-69 to extend their winning streak to two games.
Although McKeown achieved a career-defining milestone, junior guard Melannie Daley once again stole the show with stellar shooting from the field. Following a career-high 25-point showing against UIC, Daley poured in 21 points on a highly efficient 10-of-11 clip.
“This girl just has a knack for scoring the ball,” McKeown said. “She now has the ability to bounce back. When she misses a shot, she’s right back into play.”
Daley’s presence from the opening tip proved integral to the team’s initial lopsided run. But stellar shooting was far from a solo effort. The team’s starting frontcourt, senior Paige Mott and junior Caileigh Walsh, also drained three shots in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Omaha attempted to make a push at the mounting deficit, but NU appeared to have an answer for each Maverick advance. Once halftime struck, the ‘Cats carried a 46-24 lead.
Even with the cushion, Mott said she felt an Omaha comeback effort couldn’t be taken lightly.
“I think for us, it was just a pride sort of thing,” Mott said. “Let’s not let them go on a run. Let’s get our lead back. Try to hold it off as long as we could. ”
Entering the third quarter, NU demonstrated its commitment to maintaining a lead, fighting through an aggressive full-court press and shooting efficiently from the field.
Mott dominated the paint, collecting rebounds and getting to the rim seemingly at will. Daley finally came back down to earth from her infallible form, showing a touch of humanity on a missed attempt after her mid-range masterclass.
After the ‘Cats reached the final frame with a sizeable advantage in their back pocket, McKeown began to clear his bench, trying out new rotations in an early season test. With about five minutes left in the game, Walsh fouled out for the second consecutive game.
“There is no reason that I should be fouling out of the Nebraska Omaha game,” Walsh said. “There’s no excuse. And I think that I’m just going to take this dial-in that I had today and use it as motivation for Wednesday’s game.”
NU will have plenty to build off from its Sunday success — namely its efficient shooting touch.
The ‘Cats converted 53% of their field goals and drained 42% of their outside shots. McKeown noted his team’s arsenal as “deeper,” especially considering its 3-point woes last season.
“You see today that we were (8-of-19) from 3,” McKeown said. “If we can do that, if we can hit six, seven threes a game, just open the floor up – yeah I feel like we’ll be hard to guard.”
NU will head east to face Notre Dame on Wednesday, a game that expeditiously turned sideways at a similar juncture last November.
With Sunday’s win, McKeown became the winningest coach in program history, surpassing former coach Don Perrelli’s 251 wins. For McKeown, the magnitude of the moment only began to hit him postgame.
“That’s a great honor to be a part of this at Northwestern,” McKeown said.
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