On the heels of a team trip to Spain this past summer, Northwestern opened its season with a 5-6 nonconference slate, riddled with turnover trouble and defensive struggles.

Coach Joe McKeown’s squad began its season with a 92-86 comeback overtime victory against University of Illinois Chicago. Despite an early lead, the Wildcats allowed the Flames to mount an 18-0 run during the first and second quarters and found themselves with a 19-point deficit with two minutes left in the first half. 

After the break, NU’s offense came alive with a third-quarter 27-5 run of their own, where sophomore guard Caroline Lau and junior guard Melannie Daley each notched double-digit points.  

Daley tallied a career-high 25 points in her first regular season start since her freshman year. The New York native has been a bright spot in the early season stretch, averaging a team-high 13.4 points per game. 

Building off the momentum of their victory against UIC, the ‘Cats came out hot against Omaha, leading by 16 and forcing 10 turnovers in the first quarter. Despite a rocky defensive showing in the second half, NU secured an 18-point victory, and McKeown surpassed the program record of 252 wins for a single coach.

However, the early season triumph was short-lived, as the ‘Cats traveled to South Bend to face No. 16 Notre Dame in their toughest nonconference challenge. In a 58-point loss, turnovers, 3-point defense and foul trouble posed major issues for NU. 

Senior forward Paige Mott fouled out after just 13 minutes on the floor, and junior forward Caileigh Walsh picked up four personal fouls in under three quarters. The 6-foot-3 New Jersey native fouled out against both UIC and Omaha and found herself in similar trouble against the Irish. 

That same week, the ‘Cats defeated Southeast Missouri State at home, bringing them to an optimistic 3-1 before heading to Las Vegas for the Ball Dawgs Classic. Walsh produced a career-high 27 points on a 9-of-15 shooting clip, canning four triples. 

NU lost both of its games handedly on the Thanksgiving Sin City trip. Falling 90-52 to No. 13 Florida State and 83-61 to Belmont, things looked bleak early on in both contests. 

Bench contribution offered a highlight in an otherwise dismal showing, with 45 bench points between the two games. Freshman guard Casey Harter saw significant minutes in Las Vegas and has started six games since then. 

The Vegas trip marked the beginning of a 26-day, six-game losing streak. In their next three nonconference games against Loyola Chicago, Georgetown and DePaul, the ‘Cats led their opponents for just 33 seconds in 120 combined minutes of play. 

In each of these three games, NU trailed by nine or more points after the first quarter —  losing by more than 20 points at halftime in both the Georgetown and DePaul matchups. 

The ‘Cats snapped out of their grim losing streak with a 86-66 victory over Bradley. For the first time in weeks, McKeown’s squad played cohesively. 

Despite trailing at halftime, four scorers reached double-digit points in an offensively dominant final 20 minutes. The team also had just seven turnovers 一 a season low in a difficult area for the team this season. 

NU completed nonconference play with a 72-68 comeback victory over Temple. Down by 11 in the second quarter, the ‘Cats turned things around to secure the victory in McKeown’s hometown of Philadelphia. Daley poured in a team-high 21 points — all of which came in the second half. 

With the momentum of two wins at the end of nonconference competition, and an impressive victory over conference foe Rutgers last week, the Cats are looking ahead toward a challenging schedule of talented Big Ten opponents, including a home matchup against No. 20 Ohio State Friday. 

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Twitter: @AudreyPachuta

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