CHICAGO -- Northwestern lifted the lid on the 2014-15 season in spectacular fashion Friday night by clobbering the Chicago State Cougars at the Jones Convocation Center, 102-48. The 'Cats eclipsed 100 points in a game for the first time since Nov. 23, 1996 when they hung 101 on the UIC Flames.
Fifty-four points marks Northwestern's largest margin of victory under seventh-year head coach Joe McKeown and its biggest since topping Maryland-Baltimore by 50 points, 92-42, in the 1986-87 season opener.
Individually, sophomore point guard Ashley Deary picked where she left off from her fine freshman season by matching the school record with 11 steals, set previously by Moira Kennelly against UW-Milwaukee on Jan. 12, 1993. Deary registered seven thefts, a number that would have surpassed her previous career best by one, in only 10 minutes of second-half action.
Four players scored in double figures for NU, led by senior Alex Cohen and junior Maggie Lyon who chipped in with 18 points apiece with Cohen adding a career-high 11 rebounds. Lyon scored 15 of her 18 points on five first-half three pointers, all without a misfire.
The Wildcats opened the game on an 8-0 run over the first 2:13 that was highlighted by a pair of three-point baskets from Cohen. Northwestern's lead soon reached 19 points on the strength of some stingy defense and a hot touch from the outside. The 'Cats forced a pair of shot clock violations in the first four minutes and they hit two more triples in the early going. Besides Cohen's pair, Coffey and Lyon both hit from long range in the opening minutes of the first half.
The strong effort continued on both ends of the floor throughout the first half. Lyon drilled all five of her three-point attempts to record a game-high 15 points in the opening 20 minutes. Coffey and Cohen were also in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. As a team Northwestern shot 75 percent from three-point range and 69.2 percent overall to begin the season.
Defensively, the 'Cats collected 11 steals in the first half led by Deary who notched four. Lauren Douglas added three thefts in nine first-half minutes off the bench. Chicago State had 21 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, leading to 31 of NU's 55 points.
The second half featured more of the same. Deary notched steals on four consecutive CSU possessions all of which led to Northwestern layups. After Lyon picked up a steal to feed Deary for an easy bucket that put the visiting team ahead by 42 points, Deary added another before she passed to Nof Kedem who made the score 69-25 with 15:46 left in the game.
Thirteen players saw the floor Friday night and all of them who played longer than three minutes found the scoring column, including a pair of freshmen who were making their collegiate debuts for Chicago's Big Ten Team. Lydia Rohde drained a three-pointer with just under six minutes left to notch her first points, while Alexis Glasgow put in her first basket off a feed from senior Karly Roser with 1:37 left in the contest.
Northwestern scored 61 points off 39 Chicago State turnovers Friday and 38 points in the paint to CSU's 10. The Wildcats bench also outscored the opposition, 30-20.
The 'Cats open the home portion of their 2014-15 schedule on Sunday, Nov. 16 with a matinee against the Hampton University Lady Pirates. Northwestern has faced Hampton only one other time and it came away with a 58-45 triumph on Dec. 29, 2003. Sunday's contest tips off at 2 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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