{"id":32052,"date":"2016-02-24T12:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T18:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=32052"},"modified":"2016-02-24T12:59:21","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T18:59:21","slug":"wildcats-foul-up-against-michigan-in-home-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wildcats-foul-up-against-michigan-in-home-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildcats foul up against Michigan in home finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Northwestern women\u2019s basketball team didn\u2019t need to do anything crazy to beat Michigan. It didn\u2019t need a buzzer-beater or a miraculous run in the last two minutes. It just needed to hit its free throws scattered throughout the game.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Wildcats made 9-of-15 at the line, and those six missed points were the difference between ending their last game at Welsh-Ryan Arena with a one-point win and going out with a 70-65 loss to the Wolverines on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Those missed shots \u2014 what Northwestern coach Joe McKeown called the team\u2019s Achilles\u2019 heel \u2014 dropped them to 4-13 in the Big Ten (15-14 overall) with one game remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n

The team missed at least one shot during each trip to the foul line until junior guard Christen Inman made both with 17 seconds left in the game, bringing the Wildcats to within four. They closed the gap further at 68-65 with four seconds left, but the Wolverines (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) hit both their free throws on the ensuing foul to secure their 10th victory in 11 meetings with Northwestern.
\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a hard-nosed Big Ten game \u2014 a grind game and we just couldn\u2019t make enough plays when we had chances,\u201d McKeown said. \u201cWe made a great comeback and put ourselves in position to win the game in the last couple minutes. We didn\u2019t panic [but] we just couldn\u2019t finish it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grabbing six steals, junior point guard Ashley Deary broke the 10-year-old Big Ten single-season record with 126 on the year. The previous record of 124 was held by Keisha Anderson of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\"DearyMich2\"
Junior point guard Ashley Deary weaves through Michigan defenders toward the basket at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Tuesday. The Wolverines defeated the Wildcats 70-65. (Michelle R. Martinelli\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Deary dismissed talk of her own achievement and deflected focus to her team’s other bright spots.<\/p>\n

Junior forward Nia Coffey was a wall on defense, finishing with a career-high six blocks in addition to her 22 points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah earned her fourth double-double, adding 14 points and 10 boards.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe definitely brings momentum and energy to the team,\u201d Deary said about Kunaiyi-Akpanah. \u201cThe offensive rebounds that she gets are just big-time and really are deflating for the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both teams got off to a rocky, back-and-forth start, struggling to find the rim and combining for 18 first-half turnovers. Tied at 22 with four minutes left in the first half, Wolverine forward Hallie Thome \u2014 who led her team with 22 points \u2014 hit a quick layup to give Michigan a lead it would never relinquish.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s left-handed \u2014 that helps sometimes, just keeps you off balance,\u201d McKeown said. \u201cMore than anything, she\u2019s just really good around the basket finishing. She\u2019s got good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading 30-25 at halftime, the Wolverines went on a 10-3 run in the third quarter and started to run away with the game.<\/p>\n

Down by as many as 13 late in the third, the Wildcats clawed back with tough defense \u2014 draining Michigan\u2019s shot clock several times \u2014 and scoring 30 points off the Wolverines\u2019 23 turnovers. Making one-of-two free throws, senior guard Maggie Lyon cut Michigan\u2019s lead to 63-59 with 52 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Although Inman and sophomore guard Lydia Rohde made both their free throws in the Wildcats\u2019 final two trips to the line to get them to within three, they couldn\u2019t compensate for the many missed shots throughout the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just sometimes a momentum thing,\u201d Lyon said. \u201cWhen shots are falling, other people\u2019s shots fall, but when they\u2019re not falling, it seems to be contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Junior forward Nia Coffey goes up for a jump shot with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter against Michigan at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Tuesday. The Wolverines topped the Wildcats 70-65. (Michelle R. Martinelli\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michelle R. Martinelli The Northwestern women\u2019s basketball team didn\u2019t need to do anything crazy to beat Michigan. It didn\u2019t need a buzzer-beater or a miraculous run in the last two minutes. It just needed to hit its free throws scattered throughout the game. Instead, the Wildcats made 9-of-15 at the line, and those six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":32077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,585],"tags":[901,642,643,1680,137,192,641,1681,640],"class_list":["post-32052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2016","tag-big-ten","tag-big-ten-basketball","tag-michelle-martinelli","tag-michigan","tag-northwestern","tag-promo","tag-wildcats","tag-wolverines","tag-womens-basketball"],"yoast_head":"\nWildcats foul up against Michigan in home finale - 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\/wildcats-foul-up-against-michigan-in-home-finale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wildcats foul up against Michigan in home finale - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Michelle R. Martinelli The Northwestern women\u2019s basketball team didn\u2019t need to do anything crazy to beat Michigan. It didn\u2019t need a buzzer-beater or a miraculous run in the last two minutes. It just needed to hit its free throws scattered throughout the game. 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