Women’s basketball might just sneak into the Big Ten Tournament after all.
With this win under its belt, Northwestern notched its second Big Ten win of the season against Rutgers, giving the Wildcats even more hope for postseason play.
The Northwestern Wildcats (8-15, 1-11 Big Ten) faced off against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-15, 2-12 Big Ten) in a Big Ten matchup on Monday evening at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Northwestern hoped to right the ship after a loss to Purdue on Feb. 12 which deeply hurt its chances of making the Big Ten Tournament.
Sitting at the bottom of the conference, the Wildcats needed to steal one away from the Scarlet Knights to try to secure a spot in the conference tournament. After the conference expanded to 18 teams for the 2024-25 season, only 15 of the 18 teams can make the cut.
To start off the matchup, the Wildcats got off running, converting quick points from a turnover by the Scarlet Knights. After an impressive defensive effort from Taylor Williams, Caroline Lau caught the outlet pass, eventually finding Kyla Jones for the easy two.
Rutgers immediately responded with a jumper of its own, tying it up 2-2. From there, the Wildcats went on a bit of a run. After scores from Caileigh Walsh and Jones, as well as a pair of free throws from Casey Harter, the Wildcats found themselves up 10-2.
Rutgers’ JoJo Lacey made a tough layup to stop the Wildcat run — driving down the left lane and finishing strong with her right hand. After a series of defensive stops from the two sides, Lau found Jones again for the finish, making it 12-4.
With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats dominated the Scarlet Knights, closing the quarter with a 13-6 run. This surge extended their lead to 12 points, ending the quarter with a score of 25-12.
The second quarter, went a little rockier. Northwestern and Rutgers traded baskets to open up the scoring, extending the score to 27-14. After five straight points from Walsh and four from Destiny Adams, the Wildcats led the Scarlet Knights 32-18. From there, Rutgers started to nibble away at the Wildcat lead.
Thanks to Destiny Adams and Awa Sidibe, the Scarlet Knights slashed the Wildcat lead by getting inside the paint and to the free throw line. During the Scarlet Knight run, Sidibe had five points and an assist while Adams had three points of her own, including a knock-down jumper.
Northwestern led Rutgers 37-28 at halftime after a dominant first quarter showing. The Wildcats finished the quarter 1-for-11 from the field, with the lone bucket coming from Walsh — who hit the putback finish to give Northwestern some momentum heading into the break.
After the halftime break, the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights kept things close. After a tough foul from Taylor Williams, Zachara Perkins opened up the scoring for the Scarlet Knights by hitting one of her two free throws at the line.
From there, the Wildcats and Scarlet Knights continued to exchange blows. Williams and Thompson went on to make both of their attempts at the line. Harter and Lacey swapped a pair of jumpers.
Sidibe emerged as the star of the quarter, scoring seven points to close out the third. Her highlight came with a minute to go as Williams fouled Sidibe for a tough, and-one finish. Despite Sidibe’s efforts, the Wildcats stayed the course by committee. Key substitutions like Melannie Daley had four points and an assist in the quarter.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats led the Scarlet Knights 52-44. Harter nailed a big three-pointer to open up the fourth for the Wildcats, making it just the third three-pointer of the game for both teams.
From there, the Scarlet Knights went on a 7-0 run of their own to cut the Wildcat lead to just four points. In order to cut the momentum, the Wildcats needed some points of their own. After a gritty offensive rebound, Williams made a layup to extend the lead to 57-51.
After a foul from Harter, Adams went to the line, hitting both of her free throws at the strip, cutting the Northwestern lead back to four to make it 57-53.
As the fourth quarter came to a close, Lau, Williams and Walsh each had four fouls —limiting their ability on the defensive end of the floor. However, this didn’t stop them on the other end.
It was only a matter of time, but Williams finally took things into her own hands. She went on a run, coming in big with three straight buckets. The highlight came from Lau to Williams, where the Northwestern guard found the flashing Williams wide open for the easy two, extending the Northwestern lead to 63-53.
The Scarlet Knights earned back some buckets through Chyna Cornwell, Adams and Lacey, who all knocked down some shots to cut the Northwestern lead to five. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for Rutgers as the Wildcats came through on the stripe, going 6-for-8 from the line to finish the game with a 69-59 victory.
After a massive win for the Wildcats, they will look to continue their move up the Big Ten ladder against No. 21 Maryland on Thursday. The Wildcats also take on Wisconsin on Sunday, who sits at 3-12 in the Big Ten and could be the recipe for a Wildcat Big Ten postseason berth.