- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,861
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Despite a furious comeback and strong performance from Kat Righeimer, Northwestern’s (8-17, 2-12 B1G) late-game fouling plagued the team down the stretch, as it lost 81-71 to Penn State (9-17, 2-13 BIG) at Rec Hall Friday night.
Righeimer led NU with the game of her life, scoring 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting, crushing her previous high of seven points. She entered the season having scored 18 points in all previous games combined. Caroline Lau added 17 points, while Grace Sullivan netted 16 of her own. NU shot 37.3% from the field, compared to 46.7% for Penn State. The Lady Lions were led by Kyomi McMiller’s 32 points and Gracie Merkle’s 19 points.
Of the 18 teams in the Big Ten, only 15 will make the tournament. As the 16th and 18th ranked team in the conference, this was a must-win game for both teams. Northwestern’s one other game versus a Big Ten opponent ranked below them was against Rutgers. The Wildcats dominated in that contest, crushing the Red Raiders by 19 on the back of a 21-point performance from Casey Harter.
With Penn State entering as tied for dead last in the conference, Northwestern missed a golden opportunity to solidify themselves as a possible tournament team.
Following a strong 16-point performance against No. 7 Michigan, Caroline Lau opened up the scoring for the Wildcats with a smooth stepback three. In response, Moriah Murray and Kiyomi McMiller each hit deep triples to give Penn State a quick 10-3 lead over Northwestern. A handful of sloppy turnovers by the ‘Cats and missed shots allowed the Lady Lions to maintain their early lead until an emphatic block by Tayla Thoams, Casey Harter jumper and Lau’s second three gave Northwestern a little momentum.
Coming out of the first media timeout, Penn State took the momentum right back courtesy of Northwestern’s fifth turnover and Vitoria Santana’s trey ball to extend the lead to 10. Joe McKeown brought in Kat Righeimer, who immediately sank a midrange on her first possession. However, a turnover by Harter and some beautiful ball movement from the Lady Lions gave McMiller a wide open layup to bring her scoring total up to nine, and the lead back up to double figures. Northwestern struggled throughout most of the fourth quarter, going 5-of-15 from the field compared to Penn State’s 9-of-19.
The ‘Cats still couldn’t find the bottom of the net to open the second quarter, missing their first four shots, including a difficult runner forced up by Xamiya Walton at the end of the as the shot clock expired. Penn State immediately followed its defensive stand with a deep triple by Murray and a layup by Gracie Merkle to bring the Lady Lion’s advantage to 14, and forcing McKeown to call a timeout.
The timeout couldn’t stop the Lady Lions’ leading scorer however, as McMiller came right out of the timeout with an acrobatic layup. Northwestern couldn’t buy a bucket in the second quarter, starting the period off 0-of-9 from the field, failing to score until nearly halfway through the quarter, and allowing the Lady Lions to go on a 9-0 run. The ‘Cats superstar Grace Sullivan finally stopped the bleeding, hitting her first field goal of the game plus the foul. On the other end, Murray responded with her third basket of the game from beyond the arc, extending the Penn State lead to 18, and more than doubling Northwestern’s scoring total.
Both teams went the next two minutes without a field goal, but netted a handful of free throws each. Finally, Harter got a midrange to go as the shot clock went off, and breathed a sigh of relief after failing to convert her previous few shots.
With the Wildcats scrambling to find a last shot before the second quarter buzzer sounded, Amaro Lopez threw up a one-handed spinning prayer of a shot that miraculously found the bottom of the net. Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, the made shot was overturned a minute later upon review, keeping the Penn State lead at 36-22 as each team made for the locker room.
At the half, Sullivan led the scoring for the Wildcats with five of her seven points coming from the charity stripe. McMiller played all but one minute of the first half, and went into the locker room with a game-high 13 points, but the box score didn’t show her shifty handles and midair athleticism that kept the Penn State crowd hyped. Moriah Murray, the only Lady Lion to start all 12 of the team’s games thus far, put up nine in the first half.
Penn State was dominant on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 23 to 16, while shooting a much more efficient game. The Lady Lions shot 41% from the field and 33% from deep, compared to Northwestern’s 25% from the field and 18% from long range. Lau, the nation’s leader in assists per game and number two in total assists, struggled to facilitate, failing to record an assist in the first half.
The Wildcats came out in the third quarter and immediately turned the ball over, leading to Merkle’s eighth and ninth points of the game. Another turnover and trio of missed shots by Northwestern allowed buckets to Merkle and McMiller, giving Penn State their largest lead of the night at 20.
The Wildcats finally cashed in, capitalizing on an over-rotation by the Lady Lions with a deep ball from Righeimer. Following the media timeout, Righeimer stayed hot, taking advantage of a Penn State miscommunication and a bad pass from McMiller with an and-one layup to cut the lead to 13.
For the Lady Lions, it was just that kind of night, as Tea Cleante banked in a triple, and jogged back on defense with an unapologetic grin.
But the ‘Cats refused to stop fighting, answering with back-to-back triples from Harter and Walton.
At the end of the third quarter, Righeimer’s second three pointer of the game and Caroline Lau bucket cut the Penn State advantage to seven before McMiller hit a spinning midrange with five seconds left to cap off her 11-point third quarter.
McKeown switched up the defense coming into the final quarter. Lau and Walton’s suffocating trap defense forced a back court violation and set up Lau’s third triple. On the next possession, Righeimer didn’t hesitate, burying a shot from two steps behind the arc, looking like her former coach, Kobe Bryant.
Next, followed by a skip pass through the lane by Walton to a cutting Lau, setting up an easy bucket, and cutting the lead to four.
Penn State responded with a Murray Amiya Evans layup to bring the difference back up to nine.
The ‘Cats sparked some hope on a Walton three followed by Merkle’s fourth foul of the game, sending the 19 points per game scorer and 75% shooter to the bench with four minutes to go.
With 1:43 left in the game, Carolina Lau committed her fifth foul, saving McMiller from a difficult shot with one second left on the shot clock, and sending herself to the bench for the remainder of the contest. McMiller hit one of her two shots from the line. A couple seconds later, Tayla Thoams earned herself two free throws, and hit them both, cutting the lead to four once again. Merkle responded with a layup on the next possession, only for Sullivan to get a layup to go and the foul. With 43 seconds left, the 78% free throw shooter hit the freebie, cutting the lead to three. Northwestern’s closest deficit since it was 5-3 early in the game.
After an offensive foul from Thomas, Northwestern began playing the foul game with 33 seconds remaining. McMiller grabbed her twelfth rebound of the game to close it out, finishing with 30 points for her fourth straight game, as the Lady Lions upset the Wildcats by a score of 81-71.
Northwestern will look to bounce back in East Lansing against Michigan State on Wednesday at 5:30 CT.
Continue reading...
