Nov. 12, 2010
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Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh Ryan Arena)
Score: Northwestern 66, Dartmouth 37
Records: NU (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten), Dartmouth (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Nov. 14 -- vs. LSU 2 p.m.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern used an outstanding defensive effort and three solid scoring performances to defeat Dartmouth 66-37 Friday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Senior Amy Jaeschke notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Kendall Hackney and Brittany Orban contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively.
"Dartmouth is one of the best-coached teams in the country and one of the top teams in the Ivy League every year," head coach Joe McKeown said after the game. "I have a lot of respect for Dartmouth. I just thought our defense, physically, was able to control the game tonight."
Jaeschke, who tallied nine of the Wildcats' first 16 points, set the tone offensively on the first possession, converting a left-handed lay-up for NU's first points of the season. Junior Brittany Orban followed with a triple and on the ensuing possession, Meshia Reed made it a 7-1 Wildcat advantage just 90 seconds into the game.
NU applied three-quarters court pressure immediately and denied the Big Green field goals on five-consecutive possessions. The swarming Wildcat defense did not allow a field goal until the 16:20 mark when All-Ivy League selection Brittney Smith sunk a 15-footer. Dartmouth pulled to within 12-9 but NU dashed any hopes of the Big Green coming any closer.
Northwestern struck quickly, stringing together an 11-2 explosion over the next two minutes to pull ahead 23-11 midway through the opening frame.
The Wildcats restricted Dartmouth to a single point from the 9:32 mark until the break and took a 35-14 lead into the locker room. Jaeschke led all scorers with 13 points and eight boards while Orban chipped in seven points. NU dominated on both ends, holding a 25-12 edge on the glass while connecting on 50 percent (16-of-32) of its looks.
The visitors ran off seven-straight points out of halftime, cutting NU's lead to 14 just two minutes into the stanza. The 'Cats composed a 7-0 run of their own and once again inflated their lead to 21. Northwestern never allowed the difference to dip below 16 en route to its first victory of the season.
The Wildcats are next in action Sunday at 2 p.m. when they host SEC powerhouse LSU. The game will be streamed live on bigtennetwork.com.
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