Feb. 28, 2010
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Amy Jaeschke scored 17 points and freshman Kendall Hackney added 14, but it was not enough to pull out a victory as the Wildcats fell to Illinois, 58-48, Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. With a mark of 16-13, Northwestern finishes the regular season with the most wins since the 1996-97 campaign and turns in its first winning record at home since that same season.
After taking some time to find their offensive rhythm, both teams found themselves in a 5-5 deadlock at the 14:48 mark. Illinois composed a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 14-5 lead on a layup by Karisma Penn.
A minute later, Dannielle Diamant (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) answered for the Wildcats, giving Northwestern a voice offensively, but Illinois proceeded to net the next six points of the game, holding a 20-8 lead at the 4:45 mark. Northwestern held Illinois to just three points the rest of the half, while posting six of their own to narrow the halftime margin to 10, 23-13.
Diamant led all scorers with five points, while senior Kristin Cartwright (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) each contributed four. Defensively, the Wildcats held Jenna Smith, a Naismith Watch List finalist and All-Big Ten player, to just three first-half points.
Jaeschke opened the second-frame scoring for the Wildcats with a three-point play the old fashioned way, bringing the tally to 23-16 just a minute in. The Fighting Illini built an 18-point lead just four minutes into the stanza, but Northwestern slowly widdled the difference down to 11 on a three pointer from Hackney (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) at the 10:15 point.
Illinois continued its fine marksmanship on the offensive end, shooting 64 percent from the field in the first 14 minutes to build a 19-point lead with 7:26 remaining. But the Wildcats put together a 12-2 run, thanks to six points from Hackney, to make it a nine-point game with 3:11 left.
The Fighting Illini perservered to make it a 13-point difference with 1:15 remaining, but two free throws by Jaeschke and a three by Brittany Orban(North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) slashed the lead to eight, 56-48, with 44 seconds left, but that was as close as Northwestern would come as Illinois held on for the win.
Northwestern is next in action on Thursday, March 4 in the first day of the Big Ten Tournament. The bracket will be set later this evening, so please check back with NUsports.com for complete details.