Victory at last. 

Entering the game as solo Big Ten bottom dwellers, Northwestern hosted one-win foe Penn State for a Super Bowl Sunday showdown and snapped a nine-game losing streak to record its first conference win of the year with a 69-63 victory. 

The Wildcats (8-14, 1-10 Big Ten) couldn’t get shots to fall early on, converting just five of their 17 first quarter attempts from the floor and no shots from beyond the arc. 

A stronger second-quarter performance turned the tides firmly in NU’s direction as it amassed its first lead of the day with 3:30 left to play in that period and reached the break up 30-29.

As both offenses fell quiet in the third quarter, the game stayed close headed into the final period as NU looked to make up for its dismal 0-of-11 shooting performance from three by battling in the paint. 

But as senior forward Caileigh Walsh and sophomore guard Casey Harter opened the final frame with back-to-back triples, the ’Cats delivered a strong performance to close out the win, leading by a game-high 12 points with 6:19 to play and outsourcing their opponents 28-22 in the final 10 minutes. 

Here are three takeaways from NU’s Sunday win over Penn State:

1. Defense keeps the game within reach early on

Despite shooting just 29% in the first quarter, compared to Penn State’s 56%, a strong defensive performance allowed NU to trail by just seven points after the opening 10 minutes.

By the 5-minute media timeout, the ’Cats had already forced five Nittany Lion turnovers and would tack on another by the end of the period without relinquishing possession once.

With just over a minute left in the first quarter, graduate student forward Taylor Williams picked off a Penn State pass and took it the length of the court, but was unable to convert on the nearly uncontested fast-break opportunity.

Though NU wasn’t able to capitalize on Penn State’s miscues to create scoring opportunities, its ability to shut down the visitors’ offensive sets by breaking up plays kept the game close early.

2. Have a day, Melannie Daley

With just over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, junior guard Melannie Daley broke through for a 6-0 scoring run of her own to make it a one-point game, hitting two shots from mid-range and then draining a layup after junior guard Caroline Lau airballed the 3-point attempt.

When nothing else could spark NU’s offense, Daley’s contributions woke the team up.

Behind Daley’s 12 first-half points, the Cats reached intermission up 30-29.

As both offenses lulled throughout the third quarter and NU down by two, Daley tied the game 38-38 with a stepback floater, falling to the floor in the process. 

After a quieter second half, Daley ended the day with a team-high 20 points. As late-game foul trouble allowed the Nittany Lions to cut the deficit down to just four points with two minutes left to play, a Daley fastbreak layup and a made free throw helped NU seal the deal. 

3. Hope remains for a Big Ten tournament bid

Following its first conference victory of the season, NU will look to carry its winning momentum into what are poised to be competitive matchups at Rutgers and Purdue in the next eight days.

With an 18-team field of Big Ten teams, only the top 15 will have a chance to compete in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis this March.

For the Cats to have a chance to compete, they will need to find success on the road this week.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @AudreyPachuta

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