Northwestern Grinds Out Win Over DePaul
11/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 15/21 DePaul wiped away an 11-point Northwestern lead in the second half, but the Wildcats scored the game's last 10 points to defeat the Blue Demons, 59-55 on Tuesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
It was a wild game as leads were erased as quickly as they were built in the second half.
After struggling offensively the first 23 minutes of the game, the Blue Demons (4-1) dug deep and started to slowly chip away at the Wildcat lead. DePaul shot just .235 (8-for-24) in the first half and opened the second half 1-for-5 from field.
With 16:50 left in the second half, Northwestern took its largest lead, 33-22 on Dannielle Diamant's 3-pointer. The Blue Demons responded with a 15-6 run which was capped off by a 3-pointer by freshman guard Anna Martin with 9:35 left on the clock.
With Northwestern's lead down to two, the Wildcats put together a 10-2 run and took a 49-39 advantage with 6:16 left to play.
Over the next 2:43 the Blue Demons erased Northwestern's lead as they forced two turnovers and crashed the boards. Keisha Hampton started the rally with a layup, and Sam Quigley followed by making a pair of free throws. Felicia Chester's putback with 4:02 left, cut the Wildcat lead to four points.
Martin came through with another huge 3-pointer as the freshman's shot swished through the net and pulled DePaul within one, 49-48. Chester came up big again as her putback this time, gave the Blue Demons their first advantage since leading 12-9 in the first half.
Up 50-49, Jennifer Juergens completed the three-point-play and Martin's break away layup gave DePaul a 55-49 lead.
With 2:33 left to play, Northwestern hit a three, and used a putback of its own to pull within one, 55-54. The Wildcats closed out the game by making five of their last six free throws to seal the victory.
Chester led DePaul with 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half, while Juergens finished with 11 and Martin added 10. Katherine Harry led the Blue Demons with nine rebounds.
Marshall led the Wildcats (4-0) with 14 and Kristin Cartwright followed with 13 points.
The Blue Demons return to action on Saturday at Northern Illinois; the game tips in DeKalb at 3 p.m.
Notes: Northwestern's win snapped DePaul's 36-game winning streak over schools from the state of Illinois... the last time the Blue Demons lost to a school from Illinois was in 2002, when Illinois defeated DePaul 71-67 in Champaign... the loss snaps DePaul's 10-game winning streak over Northwestern... NU's last win was a 62-61 victory in Lincoln Park in 1998... NU now leads the all-time series 14-13... DePaul has won the tip in all five games this season... Felicia Chester attempted just her second 3-pointer of her career; she is now 1-for-2 from behind the arc after making her first collegiate three in the first half... Jennifer Juergens has scored in double-figures in all five of her games at DePaul... Juergens averages 12.2 points per game... the Blue Demons shot a season-low .294... the last time DePaul shot less than .300 was against Louisville in 2006... DePaul has had multiple players finish in double-digits in all five of its games this season.