After suffering two consecutive blowout losses by a combined margin of 70 points, Northwestern secured its second conference win with a 74-69 victory over Wisconsin Wednesday.
For the third consecutive game, the Wildcats went to battle without Joe McKeown, who was out due to illness. Associate head coach Tangela Smith took the ropes in his absence for the fifth time this season.
Both teams entered the game with a 1-3 record in Big Ten matchups. With the win, NU has now won eight of its last nine matchups with the Badgers.
The ‘Cats came ready to play from the get go. In an electric first quarter, they put together a 14-0 run, nailing two three-pointers, including a milestone shot from graduate student guard Maggie Pina that secured her 1000th career point.
NU led the Badgers for 10 minutes and 48 seconds during the first twenty minutes of play, but found themselves down by one point at the half after a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Wisconsin guard Tessa Grady.
In a tight second half, the ‘Cats were able to hold on, despite an 8-0 Wisconsin run that allowed them to tie things up early on in the fourth quarter.
Here are three takeaways from NU’s victory over Wisconsin.
Takeaways
1. NU finds much needed relief from turnover trouble
In the first 20 minutes of action, NU exhibited great strides in its ball-handling skills — a facet that has posed considerable challenges for the team throughout this season. With just four turnovers in the opening half, the squad set the tone for a more polished effort early on.
In their two most recent games against Penn State and Ohio State, the ‘Cats gave up possession 58 times. Tonight, they surrendered the ball just 10 times.
Prior to Wednesday’s contest, NU had double-digit turnovers in all but one game, and accumulated more than 20 on six occasions.
2. Caileigh Walsh continues to dominate
With 19 points on a 6-of-14 shooting clip, junior forward Caileigh Walsh has now led the ‘Cats in scoring in four consecutive games. The 6-foot-3 New Jersey native secured the team’s first lead of the night, putting them on the board with a layup within 90 seconds.
Walsh also leads the team in scoring for the year, averaging 13 points per game before Wednesday’s contest.
3. Maggie Pina scores 1,000th career point
Entering the game just one point shy of the milestone, graduate student Maggie Pina notched her 1000th career point in Wednesday’s contest against the Badgers.
The 5-foot-7 guard transferred from Boston University before this season, where she led the team in 3-point shooting during her four-year stint there.
Pina tallied her 1000th point off her signature outside jumper, sinking a long-range bucket just seven minutes into the game.
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