Dec. 13, 2010
Site: Chicago, Ill. (McGrath Arena)
Score: DePaul 76, Northwestern 72
Records: NU (8-2, 0-0 Big Ten), DePaul (12-1, 0-0 Big East)
Next NU Event: December 15 --vs. Northern Illinois (Welsh-Ryan Arena), Noon
CHICAGO, Ill. -- If you've ever tried to walk up an escalator going down, you know how Northwestern felt most the second half of Monday night's tilt at No. 24/RV DePaul. The Wildcats fought and clawed and finally overcome a perpetual 10-point deficit but could not catch up, falling to the Blue Demons, 76-72. The Wildcats (8-2, 0-0) were led by Kendall Hackney who tallied a career-best 23 points, which included 10 (of 12) free throws.
"I'm proud of the way we battled and came back," head coach Joe McKeown said. "We shot the ball extremely well at the right times, we just didn't have enough in our tank to come back all the way. Down 15, we cut it to four, but you have to give DePaul a lot of credit. [Samantha] Quigley had a great game."
Northwestern jumped out to a 7-2 lead in first three minutes but DePaul came storming back, using their rapid fire, run-and-gun offense to outscore the 'Cats 10-2 and take a 12-9 advantage at the 15:26 mark.
Three minutes later, the Wildcats regained the lead, 17-14, on a jumper in the corner by Allison Mocchi. Following a scoring exchange, DePaul ran off 10 unanswered points to build a 29-19 lead with 7:30 left in the half. Northwestern slowed down the pace and used three free throws -- a place where it is shooting 75 percent as a team -- to spark a 5-0 run and pull within 29-24 with 6:26 on the clock.
DePaul's Samantha Quigley single-handedly answered with a 5-0 run of her own to once again give the home team a 10-point cushion. Northwestern then outscored DePaul 7-2 in the final five minutes to make it a two-possession game, 36-31, going into the locker room.
Hackney led the Wildcats with 11 points at intermission (6-of-6 free throws) and seven rebounds.
DePaul ran off the first five points of the second half in less than a minute, forcing Northwestern to call a timeout. The Blue Demons never allowed Northwestern to get within single digits until the 11:45 mark when a three from the top of the key by Marshall trimmed the lead to 58-51.
NU finally made a run starting with 6:45 to play, trailing by 12. Five-straight points from Amy Jaeschke sparked a 12-2 spurt which pulled the 'Cats within four -- 74-70 -- with 3:43 remaining. A Hackney three-pointer put an exclamation point on the run, and marked her third triple of the evening.
DePaul called timeout, and it looked as though Northwestern had the momentum, but a missed fade-away jumper by Jaeschke on NU's next possession gave the Blue Demons the ball and a jumper by Felicia Chester made the difference six. A lay-up by Tailor Jones was the only other scoring either team would muster the rest of the way.
Junior Brittany Orban finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaeschke added 16 and Beth Marshall chipped in 13 points and had a team-high five assists. Hackney finished with 12 rebounds.
Northwestern returns to the floor Wednesday for a noon tilt with Northern Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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