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No. 1 Maryland 74, No. 4 Northwestern 63 Sears Centre Hoffman Estates, Ill. Box Score | Box Score 
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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Fourth-seeded Northwestern threw top-seeded Maryland everything the Terps could handle in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal game Saturday at the Sears Centre, but the Wildcats fell short, 74-63.
The 'Cats, playing in the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time ever, led by as many as 11 points in an exciting first half, but Maryland's advantage on the offensive glass and its ability to protect the ball helped it move into the conference championship game.
Though the lead changed seven times in the opening half alone, Northwestern pushed the tempo in the early going. The Wildcats led 9-7 after a 3-pointer by Maggie Lyon with 16:38 to go in the game, and after that Nia Coffey took over. The All-Big Ten selection scored 12 consecutive points for her team and by the time her personal run ended, the Wildcats led the Terps, 21-12 with 11:09 to go in the half.
Maryland clawed its way back to within four until Alex Cohen grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back through the basket with 5:06 to go, giving NU a 29-23 advantage. Following Cohen's basket, the Wildcats were unable to maintain an offensive rhythm. They were held without a basket until Coffey scored inside with about 20 seconds remaining in the half. By that time Maryland had its largest lead, five points. Coffey's 17th and 18th points of the half made it a three-point game, but Kiara Leslie scored on a put-back at the buzzer to make it a five-point game at the break.
Coffey and Cohen were a two-person wrecking crew in the first 20 minutes. The duo scored 26 of Northwestern's 31 points, while Coffey tied Maggie Lyon with a team-high four rebounds in the first period. Chicago's Big Ten Team shot 43.3 percent in the first half, with Coffey making six of her first eight attempts.
Northwestern came out of the locker room with a great deal of passion to start the second half, but Maryland's high-powered offense was too much to handle. The Terrapins opened the half on a 17-4 run before a turnaround baseline jumper from Lyon with 13:18 to go momentarily stopped the surge.
Maryland built its lead up to as many as 19 points with 10:23 to go, but the Wildcats would not go off into the night that quietly. The 'Cats used an 11-2 run that was capped by a steal from Ashley Deary and a fastbreak layup from Coffey to trim the deficit to 10 with 5:04 to go. NU held the Terps off the scoreboard for the next two minutes and Deary's acrobatic layup with 3:03 to go made it an eight-point game.
The teams went back-and forth, but after Karly Roser scored inside with 77 seconds to go to make it an eight-point game, Maryland scored six unanswered from the free-throw line to put the game away.
Coffey finished with a game-high 23 points, while Cohen added 12 and a team-best eight rebounds.
The 'Cats lost the battle of the boards, 46-36, Saturday. Maryland picked up 21 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second-chance points in the game.
Northwestern, which has won 23 games for the first time since 1995-96, is poised to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 when the bracket is revealed on March 16 at 6 p.m. The Wildcats are 9-2 since Feb. 1 with both losses coming to the fourth-ranked Terps. Head coach Joe McKeown's team won five games against top-25 teams this season and the Wildcats are currently ranked 24th in the Associated Press poll.
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