{"id":29668,"date":"2016-02-16T12:36:19","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T18:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=29668"},"modified":"2016-02-16T12:44:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-16T18:44:03","slug":"slow-start-ensures-bad-finish-for-wildcats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/slow-start-ensures-bad-finish-for-wildcats\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow start ensures bad finish for Wildcats"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michelle R. Martinelli<\/strong><\/p>\n

It got bad quickly for Northwestern on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ten minutes into the Wildcats\u2019 rematch against No. 5 Maryland, senior guard Maggie Lyon was the only player with a field goal. Northwestern trailed 25-5 at the end of the first quarter, and the game felt over.<\/p>\n

Although the Wildcats outscored Maryland in the remaining three quarters, they couldn\u2019t climb out of an eventual 24-point hole, falling 79-70 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
\n<\/p>\n

Terrapin coach Brenda Frese said she kept switching the team\u2019s defense between man-to-man and zone, especially in the first quarter, which kept Northwestern frazzled. The Wildcats (14-12, 3-11 Big Ten) shot just 16.2 percent in the first half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re streaky, that\u2019s why we\u2019re 14-12,\u201d Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said. \u201cWe\u2019re real streaky, we\u2019re young, we make a lot of mistakes, and when we can\u2019t score, I think that really was a big factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northwestern\u2019s core four all finished with double-digit points \u2014 with 25 from Lyon and 15 from junior forward Nia Coffey, who also had 11 boards \u2014 but their efforts weren\u2019t enough to compensate for their slow and disorganized first half.<\/p>\n

Junior guard Christen Inman was the only other Wildcat to score in the first quarter with a pair of free throws, and she finished with 15 points while junior point guard Ashley Deary added 11.<\/p>\n

\"LyonMaryland\"
Senior guard Maggie Lyon goes in for a layup late in the second quarter against No. 5 Maryland. The Wildcats lost 79-70 to the Terrapins on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. (Michelle R. Martinelli\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou hope not to be in that situation when you start the game,\u201d Lyon said, \u201cbut I thought we had great poise and great fight in ourselves not to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trailing 36-18 at halftime, Northwestern proved it wasn\u2019t going down that easily, and the team launched into a 15-0 run to come within nine midway through the third quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kind of let up on the gas pedal,\u201d Frese said. \u201cI thought they really started to be aggressive attacking the ball, causing turnovers, defensively, [and] rebounding wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

A layup from freshman forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah closed the gap to 65-60 midway through the fourth quarter, but that\u2019s as close as the team got to catching the Terrapins.<\/p>\n

Maryland (23-3, 12-2) guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough led her team with 27 points and eight rebounds, while forward Tierney Pfirman and center Brionna Jones had 15 and 14 points, respectively.<\/p>\n

As the Big Ten schedule winds down, Northwestern is skidding on a three-game losing streak \u2014 with all matchups decided by nine or fewer points \u2014 for the second time this season. The Wildcats fell 61-59 against Rutgers on Wednesday, and they now have lost eight of their last nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a gauntlet the last couple weeks,\u201d McKeown said. \u201cA lot of things haven\u2019t gone our way, but I think what everybody saw [Sunday] was how much fight this team has and how hard we play to come back against a team of that caliber.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wildcats have four games remaining in their regular season, starting with Penn State at home Wednesday at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Junior forward Nia Coffey (10) and junior guard Christen Inman (24) go up for a rebound during the second quarter of Northwestern’s 79-70 loss to No. 5 Maryland at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday. (Michelle R. Martinelli\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michelle R. Martinelli It got bad quickly for Northwestern on Sunday. Ten minutes into the Wildcats\u2019 rematch against No. 5 Maryland, senior guard Maggie Lyon was the only player with a field goal. Northwestern trailed 25-5 at the end of the first quarter, and the game felt over. Although the Wildcats outscored Maryland in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":29669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,585],"tags":[901,804,643,137,641,640],"class_list":["post-29668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2016","tag-big-ten","tag-maryland","tag-michelle-martinelli","tag-northwestern","tag-wildcats","tag-womens-basketball"],"yoast_head":"\nSlow start ensures bad finish for Wildcats - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/slow-start-ensures-bad-finish-for-wildcats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slow start ensures bad finish for Wildcats - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Michelle R. Martinelli It got bad quickly for Northwestern on Sunday. Ten minutes into the Wildcats\u2019 rematch against No. 5 Maryland, senior guard Maggie Lyon was the only player with a field goal. Northwestern trailed 25-5 at the end of the first quarter, and the game felt over. 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