Top-Seeded Cats Ready for Big Ten Tournament

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will look to continue its spectacular season this week at the Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing. The No. 1 seeded 'Cats face No. 8 seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
 
With a win on Thursday, the 'Cats will advance to the semi-finals at 4 p.m. CT on Friday. Saturday's championship game is set for noon CT, with both games televised on BTN.
 
Full tournament information can be found here.
 
The Wildcats won the Big Ten title last weekend after compiling a 19-4 record in conference play and 39-9 overall. It is their eighth title in program history, first since 2008, and third under Kate and Caryl Drohan.
 
Northwestern dominate the Big Ten yearly awards announced this week. Rachel Lewis was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Danielle Williams the unanimous Pitcher of the Year, while Kate Drohan won Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time at Northwestern.
 
Lewis and Williams were joined by Hannah Cady, Jordyn Rudd, and Nikki Cuchran on the First Team All-Big Ten list. Five Wildcats earning a first team honor ties the program record set in 2006. Skyler Shellmyer and Maeve Nelson each earned Second Team honors, and Grace Nieto was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman team after a sparkling rookie season.
 
Lewis led the conference with 20 home runs, second-most in a season in Northwestern history, 50 RBI, 58 runs scored, an .855 slugging percentage, and 1.355 OPS, while placing second with 36 walks and 22 stolen bases. She dominated Big Ten opponents in her final season, tying the Big Ten record with 12 home runs in conference play (excluding the extended 2021 conference season), while leading the conference with an incredible 1.000 slugging percentage, 1.540 OPS, 33 RBI, and 30 runs scored.
 
Williams, the first unanimous Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in program history, won the pitching triple crown in the Big Ten, leading the conference in ERA (1.49), strikeouts (270), and wins (25), in 187.2 innings pitched.
 
In conference play this season, the 'Cats led the Big Ten with 6.7 runs per game, a .408 on-base percentage, .569 slugging percentage, and 39 home runs. The Wildcats' .315 average and 191 hits trailed only Nebraska in the conference.
 
The last Big Ten Tournament took place in 2019, when the No. 2 seed Wildcats fell in the semi-finals to No. 3 Minnesota.
 
Fans can follow along all week on Twitter @NUSBCats.