With just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Northwestern graduate student guard Kyla Jones made a layup to give the team a 43-42 lead over Loyola Chicago on Tuesday night. Coach Joe McKeown’s squad never looked back.

An explosive second-half offensive performance gave the Wildcats (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten) a much-needed road win against the Ramblers (4-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10).

Graduate student forward Taylor Williams stuffed the stat sheet, leading the ‘Cats with 22 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals. She also posted a block. 

Williams said Tuesday’s team effort marked a substantial shift from their last matchup. 

“It was a good bounce-back win — it was really nice to see everyone give 100% effort,” Williams said. “We made some adjustments on defense, our communication was there, and I’m really proud of us tonight.” 

After taking a 6-2 lead to start the game, NU slowed down on both ends, allowing three 3-pointers and scoring just seven points in the next seven minutes.

Williams and senior forward Caileigh Walsh each scored six points in the second quarter before the ‘Cats launched a 7-0 scoring run to retake the lead late in the half. But NU headed to the locker room down 36-35 after a last-second trey from freshman guard Xamiya Walton missed the mark.

After a slow start to the third quarter, the ‘Cats went on a 17-2 scoring run behind Williams’ quickfire seven points. 

As NU scored proficiently in the paint, its defense stepped up, limiting the Ramblers to 1-of-5 shooting from three-point range, where the hosts had made over 50% from beyond the arc in the first half.

“Secord half we were a lot better, I thought we closed out and we didn’t foul,” McKeown said.

The ‘Cats entered the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead as the trends from the third quarter continued. Loyola Chicago shot 3-of-13 from beyond the arc in the quarter. Meanwhile, NU brought the intensity near the basket, forcing multiple opposing players into foul trouble.

McKeown said his team’s post success proved paramount toward securing its first road victory.

“We were able to get the ball inside and we stayed on the offensive glass,” McKeown said. “If we were able to get the ball inside, they were going to have a hard time matching up with us, so I thought we did a great job of establishing our presence in the paint.”

The ’Cats outscored the Ramblers 40-20 in the paint and shot 25 more free throws than Loyola Chicago in its 73-64 win —  a testament to how the visitors used size to their advantage Tuesday. 

Aside from being motivated to bounce back from recent losses, junior forward Grace Sullivan focused on her mechanics while seeking a personal victory –– a friendly feud with a former teammate.

“I came into this game with a different mindset, playing Emma (Theodorsson), who was my roommate at Bucknell,” Sullivan said. “Playing her brought out a different fire in me, it’s a friendly rivalry, so I feel like I did justice for that.”

Last season at Bucknell, Theodorsson averaged a team-high 13.2 points per game, while Sullivan averaged 8.8. The two helped take Bucknell to the Patriot League tournament quarterfinals.

NU will look to start a winning streak against Cornell on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“I thought we played great at times against Utah, and we struggled against Harvard,” McKeown said. “We’ve got to clean a lot of things up, but sometimes you just need a win.”

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