New year, no spark. Northwestern women’s basketball (6-8, 0-3 B1G) never lit the fuse in its tough contest against Oregon (13-3, 1-2 B1G).
On New Year’s Day, the ‘Cats concluded their West Coast trip facing the Ducks in Matthew Knight Arena. Tough defense from the Oregon squad led to sloppy turnovers and a tough deficit to overcome, with the Ducks getting a 87-54 win and the Wildcats suffering their largest loss of the season.
After a great showing against Washington, Grace Sullivan yet again led Northwestern
with 23 points, showing up in both halves. The only players close to Sullivan’s dominance were Tayla Thomas and Casey Harter, collecting 9 and 8 points respectively. Lau led all players with 10 assists.
Oregon led for over 36 minutes, and its commanding win was powered by Katie Fiso, Mia Jacobs and Sarah Rambus. Fiso banked 17 points to lead the team, with six boards and four assists. Jacobs and Rambus added 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Both teams struggled with fouls the entire game, combining for 34 total. However, the ‘Cats’ inability to capitalize on chances given by these calls led to their rugged loss.
After Northwestern won the tip, Sullivan snuck her way into the paint to toss up a two. Trading possessions after consecutive missed shots by either team, Tayla Thomas fouled Oregon’s Ehis Etute to give Etute two free shots at the line, tying things up. After a layup from Thomas, the ‘Cats found foul trouble again. This time, Casey Harter and Xamiya Walton picked up consecutive personal fouls on Oregon’s Katie Fiso and Sofia Bell. Both Ducks made their shots and the Oregon lead lengthened by 4.
A steal by Etute on the Northwestern transition turned into more points for the green and yellow, but a personal foul on Ari Long gave Harter two free throws of her own. Harter tied the score at 8 with five minutes left in the first.
More missed shots by either team led to them trading possessions left and right. But Lau, running to the arc, passed to Sullivan and the star senior sank the three to take the lead. However, this was quickly answered as sophomore Avary Cain made a trey of her own to take back the score for the Ducks. Shots by both teams, and another personal foul on Thomas led to the first media timeout with 1:45 left in the first and Northwestern trailing 16-14.
Coming out of the break, Filippa Tilliander made both of her free throw attempts before Harter fired back with a basket just behind the arc. Sullivan’s steal led to her putting up another two before Oregon answered back with two points to seal a 20-19 lead at the end of the first.
Starting the second quarter, the Ducks’ Sarah Rambus shouldered her way into the paint to grab two more points. Following a missed three-pointer by Harter and an immediate shot behind the arc by Cain, Northwestern called a timeout to regroup.
Northwestern’s possession started with an inbound by Harter coming out of the timeout, but a bad pass by Lau led to a quick turnover. Following this sequence, there were a combined five fouls on the court, including two by Sullivan. This led to her being replaced by DaiJa Turner. Multiple made shots by the Oregon squad lengthened its lead even more and foul trouble continued to be a problem for the ‘Cats. The Ducks then got an and-one following a transition play from Jacobs to Amina Muhammad, who was fouled by Lau.
With 4:37 left, the score sat at 37-21. Ending a minute and a half scoring-drought, Thomas made her free throw after a shooting foul on Oregon and the pace quickened even more subsequently. Quick sprints from post to post by either team led to trading possessions after five consecutive missed shots.
Thomas and Fiso then each made two layups as they shouldered their way into the paint on consecutive possessions. Sloppy passing by the ‘Cats led to turnovers and shots made by the Ducks, all culminating into another NU timeout with 43 seconds left before the half.
Coming out of the timeout, a hook shot to the basket by Tate Lash gave the ‘Cats the points they needed most before the clock hit zero. Oregon led 45-30 going into halftime. With Sullivan on the bench for most of the quarter with three fouls, NU was outscored 25-11.
Even with her absence, Sullivan gathered the most points for the ‘Cats — totaling 12 and going 6-8 from inside the arc. Fiso led the Ducks with 12 points, going 5-9 from the field with two rebounds and three assists. Close behind her was Cain with nine points and two rebounds of her own. But nearly every player on the court got a share of the pie, with nine Ducks scoring at least two.
However, a third of the Ducks’ points came off the ‘Cats’ 12 turnovers — seven being steals. Whether this was due to Northwestern’s inability to pass cleanly or the pressure from Oregon, it was clear something needed to change in the locker room for Joe McKeown’s squad.
More fouls plagued the game as soon as the whistle blew to start the third quarter. On top of this, multiple steals by the Ducks crew started to make it look like a replay of the two quarters that came before it. With Sullivan back in the game, the ‘Cats began to gather some more points, but each shot was answered by their opponents.
Over the first 5:00 of the third, Harter and Walton each hit threes while Sullivan and Thomas made two shots of their own. This was to no avail with Oregon still relentless, as the deficit was 19 points going into the media timeout, 60-41 Ducks.
Coming out of the timeout, Thomas’ missed attempt turned into an Oregon three. Another turnover by means of a foul turned into a two-in-the-paint from Oregon’s Sofia Bell — nearly every mistake from the ‘Cats seemed to snowball into a larger deficit. The Ducks spent the snack half of the third quarter on a 12-0 run, while the Wildcats were scoreless for over five minutes.
A three on the fast break by Walton and a layup from Sullivan broke Oregon’s momentum to start the final quarter, the score now 72-48. Each score by the Ducks for the next three minutes was answered by a Northwestern bucket, showing there was still fight left.
But after a three-pointer by Oregon’s Ari Long, the ‘Cats entered a scoring drought. It took two minutes for this to end, a turnaround jumper from Sullivan being the culprit. The final 3:00 of the game saw a fleeting attempt by Northwestern to put points on the board, but it was clear the game’s fate was sealed. As the clock hit zero, the ‘Cats fell to a final score of 87-54.
The ‘Cats continue their Big Ten campaign on Monday, Jan. 5, when the No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes travel to Welsh-Ryan Arena. Slated for 7:30 p.m. CST, the game will be televised on Big Ten Network.
