Northwestern women’s basketball began its 2024-25 campaign with a loss Wednesday, falling to Illinois State 81-77 in its season opener.
Graduate student guard Kyla Jones led the Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) with 28 points.
After graduate student forward Taylor Williams got whistled for an offensive foul on the game’s opening possession, the Redbirds (1-0, 0-0 MVC) scored the first four points via forward Addison Martin.
Junior forward Grace Sullivan finally got NU on the board after the team missed its first four shots, dropping a second-chance layup in the bucket with 7:30 remaining in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 6-2.
Sophomore guard Casey Harter got going early, converting a pair of buckets to trim the Redbirds’ lead to 9-6 at the first quarter’s halfway mark.
Williams scored a layup with half a minute left in the first quarter to snap a two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought for NU, which shot 6-of-14 throughout the first quarter. Then, Harter converted a free throw from the stripe to end the first quarter down 18-13 to Illinois State.
Freshman forward Tayla Thomas earned her first career points with eight minutes left in the second quarter, draining a triple to cut the deficit to 20-16. She scored her next bucket in quick succession, making a layup in transition following an Illinois State turnover.
Spurred by Thomas’s five and a pair of layups by Jones, NU went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 22-22, forcing an Illinois State timeout.
Though costly ’Cats turnovers allowed the Redbirds to extend their lead to six, tenacious defense punctuated by a Williams and-one sent the two teams to the locker room with Illinois State leading by just three.
Both squads traded buckets into the third quarter before the NU defense ratcheted its intensity. The ’Cats forced five turnovers in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Sullivan violently rejected an Illinois State shot with 4:35 left in the third frame. On the other end, junior guard Caroline Lau drained a three, giving NU its first lead of the game at 47-44.
The Redbirds drilled a three with a minute left in the third quarter before Jones knocked down a 3-pointer of her own to tie the game at 55-55 entering the fourth quarter.
The two sides were neck-and-neck midway through the final frame when Illinois State leaped to a four-point lead.
Sullivan, Williams and Thomas all fouled out early in the fourth quarter, but Jones took over, scoring nine points to knot the game back up at 66-66 at the fourth-quarter media timeout.
Sophomore guard Crystal Fuqu Wang committed a foul on a layup with just under four minutes left, allowing Illinois State to go up by four. The Redbirds never relinquished their lead.
Harter drilled a three-pointer to cut the score to 78-75 with 33.2 seconds remaining and then NU played the free throw game.
With 6.5 seconds left, down 79-77, the ‘Cats sent in an inbound pass with a chance to either win or tie the game. Freshman guard Xamiya Walton’s three-point shot bounced around the rim and Illinois State escaped with the victory.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s matchup.
1. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Last year, NU surrendered 16.3 turnovers per game, ranking third-worst in the Big Ten.
On Wednesday, it committed eight turnovers in the first half, with six different players giving the ball away. Illinois State capitalized on the ’Cats’ errors, scoring nine points off turnovers in the game’s first twenty minutes.
Illinois State committed six turnovers of its own in the first half before matching its output in the third quarter alone.
NU finished the contest with 14 turnovers, while Illinois State finished with 15 turnovers. The ‘Cats scored 20 points off turnovers while the Redbirds scored 12.
2. Newcomers make an impact
Five players made their NU debuts Wednesday: Jones, Williams, Thomas, Sullivan and Walton.
Two newcomers – Jones and Sullivan – made their presence felt on the hardwood Wednesday.
Sullivan, who scored 10 points, displayed a ferocious ability on the glass, logging eight rebounds. Defensively, she shined, making a highlight-reel rejection, but the forward fouled out in the fourth quarter.
With both Thomas and Williams picking up four fouls by the third quarter’s end, Sullivan saw extensive time on the court, playing 26 minutes.
Jones demonstrated a command of the court Wednesday, knocking down clutch shots on 9-of-12 shooting.
Her 14 fourth-quarter points kept the ‘Cats in the game down the final stretch.
Meanwhile, Thomas scored nine points — though she fouled out with nine minutes remaining in the game. Williams also scored nine points and logged seven rebounds before fouling out.
3. Harter excels as secondary scoring option
Harter, now a sophomore, started 16 games in her freshman campaign last season. Named to coach Joe McKeown’s starting five tonight, the Harleysville, Pennsylvania, native played 38 minutes.
She finished with 18 points, notching three assists and four rebounds.
With the departure of guard Maggie Pina and Daley still returning from injury, Harter slid into a bigger role. She turned in a strong performance, adding a steal on 7-of-13 shooting.
Harter made an acrobatic and-one play to keep NU in the game with two minutes remaining, hitting the deck as her heave swished into the basket.
Her play will be critical heading into early nonconference play.
NU is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 10, when it will take on Lehigh at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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