Nov. 12, 2006
Loyola Box
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Chicago, Ill. -- Northwestern used a 23-of-26 effort from the line en route to a 78-60 victory against intra-city rival Loyola Sunday afternoon at the Gentile Center. Junior Sara Stutz (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) led the 'Cats (2-0, 0-0) with a career-best 26 points.
"I'm proud of the way our team played in the second half," head coach Beth Combs said. "Stutz and (Nadia) Bibbs really stepped it up for us and our whole team really responded."
Both squads jumped out to a quick start, answering each other's baskets throughout the opening stanza. The largest lead of the first half was a six-point advantage by the Ramblers that came at the five-minute mark on a three pointer by Maggie McCloskey.
The Wildcats responded over the remaining five minutes, thanks to a three-point boost from Nadia Bibbs (Chicago, Ill./Hillcrest) and a halftime buzzer-beating three pointer from well beyond the arc by Kristin Cartwright. Bibbs led all scorers at half with 11 points, including three treys.
Northwestern came out of the locker room with a more focused approach, going on a 10-2 spurt to open the half. The closest the Ramblers could come was a seven-point differential with 7:26 remaining in the game.
Stutz dominated the second half, scoring 22 points while grabbing four rebounds. Bibbs turned in a career-best 16 points while also dishing out six assists.
Senior A.J. Glasauer (Freiburg, Germany/Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium) joined Bibbs and Stutz in double-digits, contributing 13 points on 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Stutz also only missed once from the line, going 7-of-8 to help the 'Cats to an 89 percent clip from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) chipped in a strong performance with nine points and six rebounds, including five offensive boards. Melissa Miller (Bloomington, Minn./The Breck School) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while also recording six points.
Northwestern held the advantage on the glass, pulling down 13 more rebounds than Loyola.
The Wildcats are next in action at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 19 when they travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami (Ohio).