The bitter cold that swept through the greater Evanston area this weekend seemingly snuck its way into Welsh-Ryan Arena Sunday afternoon, manifesting itself in a frigid Northwestern shooting percentage amidst a 93-52 drubbing by conference bottom-dweller Illinois.
The Wildcats (7-10, 2-4 Big Ten) shot a woeful 18-of-67 from the field, converting just 26.9% of their field goals — the worst for the ‘Cats all season. To make matters worse, they committed 21 fouls.
“All of us have to figure out how to respond to this,” graduate student guard Maggie Pina said. “Our whole team has to figure it out.”
Pina led the ‘Cats with 11 points, converting 3-of-3 outside shots against the team’s in-state rivals. Pina was honored during pregame proceedings for scoring her 1,000th point against Wisconsin last Wednesday in a ceremony that included a commemorative game ball and messages from family members on the video board.
Freshman guard Casey Harter scored the first points of the contest with a driving layup, but an early 7-0 Illinois run spurred the Fighting Illini (7-8, 1-4 Big Ten) to an 11-4 lead. Though NU kept the deficit to four points during most of the first quarter, Illinois scored five points in 27 seconds to extend their lead to 20-11 as the teams headed to the second frame.
The second quarter proved deadly for NU, which couldn’t keep up with the Illini attack. The Illini opened the period with an 18-2 run, during which the ‘Cats shot 1-of-12 from the field. They were outscored 25-10 and went to the locker room for halftime down 45-21.
“I think they were a lot more physical and played with a lot more pace than we did,” Pina said. “We weren’t ready for it.”
There have been three games this season in which NU has shot worse than 35% from the field: blowout losses to then-No. 16 Notre Dame and then-No.13 Florida State, and now, Illinois. However, Notre Dame and FSU are nationally ranked in the AP poll. Illinois was on a three-game losing streak and sat tied for last place in the conference with Rutgers, a squad the ‘Cats beat in December.
Fresh off an away win against Wisconsin, the ‘Cats took their home floor with the chance to win two consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since February 2022, when they beat Illinois and Purdue back-to-back. That elusive conference win streak remains.
“We gotta be more consistent,” associate head coach Tangela Smith said. “We can’t have one decent game and then show what we showed today.”
NU travels to East Lansing on Wednesday for a match with Michigan State and then will have a week off before their next game.
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