Jan. 8, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern is coming off a hard-fought down-to-the-wire 73-65 loss on the road at Minnesota Thursday evening. The Wildcats are now 11-5, 2-3 on the season and take to the road, battling Purdue Sunday afternoon at Mackey Arena. Northwestern defeated the Boilers back on Dec. 6, 60-58, in the conference-debut for both squads.
Fans wishing to stay up to date on the action in Sunday's game can do so by following the username @NU_sportsLIVE on Twitter. The game will be broadcast live on WNUR 89.3FM and streamed live at bigtennetwork.com. Gametracker will be available on Purduesports.com.
Last time out...
It was a tale of two halves, and when the final horn blasted, Northwestern found itself on the short end of a 73-65 decision in Minneapolis Thursday evening. Beth Marshall and Kristin Cartwright led the `Cats with 14 points each, while Meshia Reed matched her season-high with 11.
NU dominated offensively in the first half and took a 41-30 lead into intermission. The `Cats nailed seven three-pointers and cooled down to shoot 59 percent on the half.
The Gophers outscored Northwestern 13-2 through the first six minutes to notch the game at 43. A 15-foot-jumper by Reed ended NU's scoring drought and refused Minnesota the lead, pulling the `Cats ahead, 46-43, at the 13:32 mark.
Minnesota held an eight-point advantage with 3:04 remaining, but the 'Cats converted on back-to-back trips to the line to slash the lead in half, 64-60 with 2:23 remaining. The difference see-sawed between four and six points until a three-point conversion by Cartwright cut the difference to three with 50 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Buford connected on a triple to give UM a six-point lead with 24 seconds left. Northwestern could not convert and the Gophers held on for the victory.
Opponent profile
Purdue Boilermakers
2009-10 Record: 7-8, 2-2
Series History: 40-19, Purdue
Last Meeting: December 6, 2009; 60-58 Northwestern
Last Time Against The Boilermakers
Northwestern's 60-58 victory over Purdue in the conference opener on Dec. 6 was a milestone of sorts for the Wildcats. It marked the first time in nearly 13 years NU had defeated the Boilermakers and it was also the first time Northwestern started the conference season with a win since the 1998-99 campaign.
In the game, Northwestern held Purdue to just two points in the final 9:08 while stringing together 16 of its own to claim a 60-58 victory Sunday evening in front of a lively crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Junior Amy Jaeschke led the Wildcats with 16 points and seven boards while Brittany Orban and Dannielle Diamant added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Noting Purdue
Purdue enters Sunday's matchup on the heels of back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and at Wisconsin. The Boilers played the No. 3 Fighting Irish in an outstanding battle in front of a national audience, but fell just short, 79-75. Prior to the loss at Wisconsin last time out, Purdue had knocked off both Minnesota (51-43) and Indiana (76-66).
Sophomore Brittany Rayburn leads Purdue offensively, recording 15.2 ppg while Sam Ostarello is the team's leading rebounder, hauling down 6.2 per outing.
Senior FahKara Malone is second in the league in both assists (4.4 per game) and steals (2.93).
As a team, the Boilermakers are committing nearly 20 turnovers per game.
Freshmen Coming Alive In Conference Action
Freshmen Kendall Hackney and Dannielle Diamant have turned in solid performances in conference action. Hackney leads the team in rebounds in Big Ten games, grabbing 6.4 rpg. She is also fourth on the squad in points per league outing, turning in 8.0 ppg. Diamant, meanwhile, is a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line and is second in scoring with 9.4 ppg. She also is shooting 45 percent from the field and 41 percent from behing the three-point line.