Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2014 10:38:29 PM
Subject: WBB: #B1GCats Match Best Start Since 1995 With Win at UNLV
Northwestern survived a late surge by the Lady Rebels to move to 9-0
Four different Wildcats scored at least 14 points in the early-evening showdown, led by sophomore Nia Coffey who poured in 23 points, which matched a season high. She spent a good chunk of the second half on the bench after picking up her fourth foul with 8:31 left in the game. Junior forward Lauren Douglas scored a season-high 17 points, including 11 in the second half.
“It was a tough road game,” said Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown. “We were in deep foul trouble and we just kind of hung on there at the end, which good teams have to do. The game could have went a lot of different ways, but I’m proud of the way we did a good job at the end.
“Defensively, we’ve been playing great, but we didn’t do a great job on that end tonight,” added McKeown. “[UNLV] is a great team and we have to close out better down the stretch. I’m disappointed, but it gives us something to really focus on.”
UNLV got off to fast start Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. After Alex Cohen put in a 3-pointer from the top of the key, the Lady Rebels went on a 9-0 run covering just under two minutes to take an 11-3 lead with 16:58 left in the opening frame. After McKeown called his first timeout, the Wildcats answered when Nia Coffey and Cohen buried triples on back-to-back possessions to slice the deficit to just two points.
A little over two minutes later, Northwestern took its first lead since Cohen put them up 3-2 when Coffey laid one in after Christen Inman picked up a quick steal. Moments later, Inman finished off a fast break when she took a behind-the-back pass from Ashley Deary and dropped in an easy layup of her own.
The two sides traded brief runs when Maggie Lyon gave Northwestern its largest lead of the half with 59 seconds to go by draining a deep 3-pointer, her third of the half. A pair of free throws pulled UNLV back to within seven points before Lauren Douglas rebounded her own miss and beat the buzzer to give the ‘Cats a 45-36 advantage at the break.
As a team Northwestern shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the opening 20 minutes and a tick higher, 54.5 percent (6-of-11), from beyond the arc. Lyon buried all three of her attempts from distance and Cohen connected on her two tries. Coffey led all players with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half. The Wildcats also protected the ball well, committing only four turnovers to start the nonconference affair.
Northwestern controlled the tempo for the first 15 minutes of the second half and it built a seemingly comfortable 16-point advantage with 5:06 left when Douglas scored in the paint. UNLV countered with a 10-1 run that finally ended when Karly Roser calmly stepped to the charity stripe and buried a pair with 2:12 remaining that gave the visitors an 86-77 lead.
The Lady Rebels battled on and eventually trimmed the deficit to one possession when Nikki Wheatley scored inside with 33 seconds left on the clock. After Northwestern was unable to get the ball across the timeline, UNLV had a look inside with 11 seconds left, but Coffey blocked Danielle Miller’s attempt. The ball went out of bounds and the home team retained possession.
UNLV called a 60-second timeout and with seven seconds, Lyon closed out hard on Alana Cesarz and blocked the shot. Coffey scooped up the ball and was fouled. She made 1-of-2 from the line, but the Lady Rebels were unable to get off a clean look at the other end.
UNLV outrebounded the Wildcats, 51-24, but NU took great care of the ball, turning it over a season-low 10 times. The purple and white also had eight blocks and eight steals.
In addition to Coffey and Douglas, Cohen and Lyon were both in double figures with 14 points apiece. Deary handed out a game-high six assists, while adding five points, two rebounds and two steals. Roser added seven points and six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench for McKeown.
“One of the great things about our team is that we have a lot of people that can score,” said McKeown. “When somebody, maybe, isn’t having a great night, we’ve got other people who can step up offensively. We can score in a lot of different ways.”
The Wildcats will head further south to Tempe, Ariz., where they will take part in the ASU Classic this weekend. Northwestern will face Eastern Illinois in its opener on Saturday, Dec. 20 at approximately 4:30 p.m. CT. NU will tangle with either Lehigh or Arizona State in the finale with the opponent determined by the outcome of Saturday’s first game.
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Assistant Director of Communications
Northwestern Athletics
o: 847-467-3418 | f: 847-491-8818
e: d-yopchick@northwestern.edu