Northwestern (2-3) faced Appalachian State (3-1) in the second and final game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off Saturday night in hopes of breaking its three-game skid. It did just that, defeating the Mountaineers 75-61 to break its three-game dry spell
The ‘Cats started the same five as Friday’s game: Lexi Blue, Lily Camody, Casey Harter, Camdyn Nelson and Jasmyn Cooper-Derba — only this time they got much different results.
It was Harter who led the ‘Cats with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting — a season-high.
She also tacked on six boards. Just behind her were Carmody and Cooper-Derba, who added 18 and 15 points, respectively. If that wasn’t enough, Carmody also obtained 10 rebounds for the first double-double of her career.
At tip-off, the Mountaineers won the ball and made a three off the rip. Derba attempted to match, but missed right before App State’s Daisia Mitchell made another three. On the fourth shot of the game, the Mountaineers found the net from behind the arc once more, putting them up 6-3 early.
After another attempted three, the ‘Cats settled for a Lexi blue lay-up before posting up on defense with numerous blocks to keep themselves within one. A foul on senior forward Casey Harter set up Northwestern to take its first lead of the game, 7-6, with a Lily Carmody lay-up.
The lead failed to stop the Mountaineers’ momentum, as they hit their third three-pointer of the night to improve to 9-7 halfway through the first quarter.
The Mountaineers continued to rain down three’s following the first media timeout as they went on an 8-0 run to go up 14-7.
A foul on Carmody allowed the ‘Cats to end their over-two-minute scoring drought. Jasmyn Cooper-Derba got two in the paint and one off a rebound to put the Wildcats within two. Not to any surprise, though, the Mountaineers put down another three before each team traded layups. A foul on Harter brought her to the line once more, where she sank one of two.
After reentering the game, Carmody made an immediate impact with a crucial takeaway that led to an easy layup for Cooper-Derba. Following her assisted score, the sophomore forward tacked on two more unassisted points to end the first quarter and cut the deficit to two.
Entering the second quarter at 21-19, both defenses established their ground: trading blocks and turnovers; the first two minutes were scoreless. The Mountaineers broke the ice with a layup off a turnover, followed by a Blue three, her second of the night, to put them one behind App. State, their closest deficit of the night.
Harter followed with another three, as that seems to be the theme so far, to tie the game at 25 apiece. Blue, who had been perfect on the night above the arc, made another three to put the ‘Cats on a 9-0 scoring run.
After trading the lead four times in four minutes, Northwestern capitalized on the offensive struggle from App State and swished a three, this time from Carmody. One more quick tie from an App State jumper was no match for the Cooper-Derba layup to officially give the ‘Cats the lead: 38-36.
At half, Blue and Harter led the team with 11 points each, scoring a combined five threes. The team shot 42% from the paint and 80% from the line.
App States’ Preston opened up the second half with a layup to immediately equalize the game at 38. However, uncharacteristic of the first half, both teams missed the threes they were consistently making, keeping it quiet early in the half.
To get the ball rolling again, Camdyn Nelson scored her first points of the night and shortly after, Harter’s jumper made it a four-point lead — the largest the Wildcats had all night. A Carmody splash followed by a Preston jumper would take the quiet second half into its first media timeout with the purple and white up 44-42 with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Carmody continued to make her presence felt after scoring again on an offensive rebound, putting Northwestern up six as they continued building separation from the Mountaineers. She then committed her third personal foul but stayed in the game nonetheless. This miscue, however, allowed App State to reel themselves in a little closer and cut the Wildcats’ once-large lead to only two.
Both teams continued to miss shots in the dwindling minutes of the third until Joi Williams made the first, and only, three of the quarter with merely seconds left. The Mountaineers took the one-point lead entering the final quarter.
The score, 51-50 to start the final ten minutes, would soon be erased in the Wildcat urge to take the lead with a Walton steal and Harter layup after a Cooper-Derba layup to put the ‘Cats on a four-point run.
For the first six minutes of the fourth, App State would only score off free-throws as they struggled to crawl back to the lead they once held. In fact, the ‘Cats had outscored App State 12-3 in the front end of the final quarter, characterized by a duo of Cooper-Derba and Harter. The Mountaineers had no choice but to call a timeout as the ‘Cats looked to close out.
With under five minutes to go, Cooper-Derba extended the lead to 11 after another dime beyond the arc. To follow in pursuit, Preston threw down another three before Xamiya Walton had one of her own — the second of her season — to bring back the once-lost first-half characteristics.
The Wildcats held their 11-point lead entering the final two minutes after going six for their last eight in the paint.
A Carmody driving layup would certainly diminish the Mountaineers’ hopes, as it would put the purple and white up 13 with a 1:15 left.
Northwestern truly flipped the script from last night’s game against West Virginia. It was a fourth-quarter surge where the ‘Cats outscored the Mountaineers 25-to-10 that ultimately gave the purple and white their second win of the season.
Northwestern stays on the road to face Abilene Christian on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
