| (rv/rv) Northwestern (10-1) at No. 20/22 Michigan State (8-3) |
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| Date | Sunday, Dec. 28 | 1:00 p.m. CST |
| Location | Breslin Center | Evanston, Ill. |
| Watch Live | BTN Plus on BTN2GO |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Social Media | @nuwbball  | Northwestern Women's Basketball  | @NUCATS_WBB  |
| Game Notes (PDF) |
Northwestern | Michigan State |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After winning 10 of its 11 nonconference games, Northwestern returns to action to open Big Ten play on Sunday, December 28 with a showdown with the reigning regular-season champions, Michigan State, at the Breslin Center at 1 p.m. CST.
SENSATIONAL STREAK
Before falling at Arizona State on Dec. 21, Northwestern won 10 consecutive games to start the season, marking the program's longest streak since Nov. 24-Dec. 18, 1995. The last time that the Wildcats won 10 consecutive games prior to 2014-15, you have to go back to the 1989-90 campaign when the squad went unbeaten in 10 contests between Dec. 9, 1989 - Jan. 21, 1990. That team, under head coach Don Perrelli, won 24 games and the program's first Big Ten Championship. To date, NU has had six streaks of 10-wins-or-more, including the recent string, and the record for most consecutive wins in program history is 17 (Jan. 23 - March 8, 1980).
DECEMBER LOCKDOWN IN TRANSITION
Before allowing 14 fast break points against Arizona State on Dec. 21, the Wildcats limited Virginia Tech, Loyola and Eastern Illinois to a combined 10 points on the break, while Gonzaga and UNLV were completely shutout in that category. Chicago's Big Ten Team outscored Gonzaga and UNLV, 28-0, in fast break points last week. NU's highest output all season, 26 points, came in a 25-point victory at Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 4.
MIND YOUR MILESTONES
Having already secured the 600th win of his coaching career, head coach Joe McKeown is eyeing another milestone win. The Philadelphia, native owns 98 victories in six-plus seasons as the bench boss at Northwestern ... Junior sharpshooter Maggie Lyon is NU's active leading scorer with 899 points. The last 1,000-plus scorer for the Wildcats was Kendall Hackney, who netted 1,547 from 2009-13 ... Alex Cohen played in her 100th career game against Eastern Illinois at the ASU Classic. Hackney is the program's all-time leader in that category with 126.
CENTURY CLUB
Northwestern's 104-point outburst at Chicago State on Nov. 14 was the largest output for the program since scoring 101 in a season-opening win against UIC on Nov. 23, 1996. The opening-night win marked the ninth time in program annals that the Wildcats reached triple digits. NU's record for most points in a game is 109 which came in a six-point victory at Michigan State on March 5, 1993. That year ('92-'93), under head coach Don Perrelli, the 'Cats also hung 103 points on Wisconsin (2/19) and 104 on Eastern Illinois (1/4). That squad reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
MINUTEWOMEN
Northwestern's five starters - Alex Cohen, Nia Coffey, Maggie Lyon, Christen Inman and Ashley Deary - plus super-subs Lauren Douglas and Karly Roser have combined to play 2,026 of 2,249 possible minutes this season (90.1 percent). In three games _ DePaul, UNLV and Arizona State, this was the only group utilized by Joe McKeown. All five starters have played at least 270 minutes, while Lyon has played the most thus far at 349 (31.7 per game). During NU's double-overtime win against DePaul on Nov. 29, the durable junior played 49 of a possible 50 minutes.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
Overall Record: 8-3
All-Time Series Record: MSU leads, 41-22
Notable: Michigan State, the Big Ten's defending regular season champions, finished the nonconference schedule eight wins and three losses, all of which came against ranked foes (Notre Dame, Georgia and Baylor). The Spartans are lead by redshirt sophomore standout Aerial Powers. A Detroit native, Powers is averaging 19.4 ppg and 12.0 rpg, ranking third and second, respectively, in the Big Ten in those categories. One of the league's top rebounding teams, Michigan State leads the way in rebounding margin (+11.7) and defensive rebounds (32.0 rpg), while ranking second in offensive boards (14.3 rpg).
UP NEXT
After battling the Spartans in East Lansing, Northwestern returns to Welsh-Ryan Arena on New Year's Day to host Wisconsin at 1 p.m. In their return home, the 'Cats will host Frozen Day with visits from Queen Elsa and Princess Ana, the opportunity to win tickets to Disney's Frozen on Ice, great prizes and more. Discounted tickets will be available for $3 to any fan in a Frozen costume.
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