The ‘Cats couldn’t stop Elle Ladine or the rest of the Huskies on Saturday.
Washington’s (10-5, 1-1 B1G) offense was too much for Northwestern (7-5, 0-2 B1G) to handle on Saturday in the two teams’ first-ever matchup as conference foes.
The Huskies shot 51% from the field en route to a 90-71 win, out-hustling the ‘Cats from start to finish in a game where Northwestern struggled to keep up in all aspects.
For the Wildcats, Caroline Lau led the way with a season-high 15 points, along with six rebounds and three assists. Taylor Williams added 13 points and seven boards, and Melannie Daley and Grace Sullivan contributed off the bench, scoring 12 and 10 respectively. However, the team combined for 17 total turnovers, and the Huskies were able to score 33 off the ‘Cats’ mistakes.
The Huskies were led by Elle Ladine, who scored a career-high 40 points with six assists and three rebounds on her 20th birthday. Dalayah Daniels added 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Hannah Stines put up 10. Ladine’s point total tied USC’s JuJu Watkins for the most points scored by a Big Ten player this season.
Wildcat head coach Joe McKeown changed the starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing Sullivan with Caileigh Walsh at forward. The Huskies won the tip, and Walsh committed an early foul on the floor 30 seconds into the game. Ladine kicked off the scoring shortly after for Washington, picking up a second-chance basket, but Williams responded for Northwestern to tie the game at 2. Lau got a steal on the subsequent possession, but a travel from Walsh handed possession back to Washington.
Almost instantly, Hannah Stines hit a jumper to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. Williams drew a foul on the next offensive trip for Northwestern, making both free throws to tie things up. Ladine was unfazed, taking an easy layup, and Northwestern’s Kyla Jones stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession. Ladine, seeming unstoppable in the first quarter, knocked down a quick three, but Jones fought hard underneath to rebound her own miss, making a layup to cut the deficit to 9-6. After a Hannah Stines travel, Williams drew another foul inside with 6:46 on the clock in the first period.
After Williams split the free throws, Jones picked up another offensive rebound, and Casey Harter converted two more on a driving layup to tie the game at 9-9. Sayvia Sellers responded with a basket in the lane, and then on the next possession, she picked up an assist and found a wide-open Devin Coppinger for three. Things quieted until Williams traveled with 5:22 to go in the first quarter, allowing Daley and Sullivan to check in for the first time for Northwestern. Sellers couldn’t hit from three, but Chloe Briggs did not give up, converting off an offensive board to bring the score to 16-9. Williams drew a foul underneath, sending the teams into a media timeout.
After the under-five stoppage, Williams returned to the line, missing both free throws. Daley grabbed another offensive rebound for the ‘Cats, but she couldn’t convert from the mid-range. Williams snatched a board to give the Wildcats yet another opportunity, and that time, Grace Sullivan swished a fadeaway to cut the score to 16-11. Shortly after, Daley knocked down a contested fadeaway near the right baseline, but Ladine responded with a mid-range swish. Williams couldn’t finish inside, but she endured a shooting foul after yet another offensive rebound, heading to the line for her fourth time in the first quarter alone. She made both, and Walsh checked in afterward, giving Williams a respite.
Stines missed a wide-open three, but Walsh drew a foul battling inside, causing Tayla Thomas to check in with Walsh at two fouls. Thomas promptly blocked a shot from the Huskies, and Daley got a steal on the next Washington possession, assisting a driving Lau, who cut the deficit to one. Ladine put Washington up 20-17 with a quick take, but Lau, who had shot 20% from three this season, knocked one down to tie things at 20. Sullivan hit another turnaround to give Northwestern the lead, but Daniels responded with a two, tying things at 22. An offensive foul on Lau gave Washington possession, and the offensive explosion continued, as Ladine hit a huge three shortly before the buzzer to give the Huskies a 25-22 edge after a wild first quarter. In all, Ladine racked up 14 points on 6-9 shooting, and Northwestern went into the break looking for answers on defense.
Casey Harter missed a potential game-tying three to start the second quarter, and Tayra Eke added her first points for the Huskies to put them up 27-22. Coppinger splashed another three off an assist from Ladine, but Sullivan hit another jumper to respond, getting up to 3 of 3 from the field in her first game coming off the bench. Lau hit her second three of the game after the ball teetered on the edge of the rim, but Ladine was automatic from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession, putting Washington up 33-27. However, Mel Daley was not to be denied, drawing a foul on a driving layup.
Typically a good free throw shooter, Daley could not convert the three-point play, but she hit a signature mid-ranger on a later possession to cut things to 33-31. Stines cashed in with a two off an assist from Ladine, but Sullivan, ever-so efficient in the first half, got an offensive board and a basket to respond for the ‘Cats. However, Ladine eventually created a wide-open layup for herself, swiping a pass from Sullivan. Unbelievably, less than 30 seconds later, Ladine knocked down another three-ball, causing a Northwestern timeout with the Huskies’ lead sitting at 40-33.
Northwestern would be pleased that Ladine — who had 22 points on 4-of-4 shooting from three — took a break following the timeout. Kyla Jones took advantage with a bucket, and a steal from Williams set up a Lau drive that ended with a second foul from Hannah Stines. But Ladine didn’t get much rest on her birthday, checking back in as Lau made one of two. Teagan Brown got her first two of the game for Washington, but Williams responded with a nice touch inside to put Northwestern at a 42-38 deficit.
A quiet stretch from both teams led to a rare miss from Ladine, but Williams committed a foul underneath, allowing Washington to keep possession. Ladine next drew a trip to the line after a foul from Casey Harter, and unsurprisingly, she knocked down both free throws. After a shot-clock violation from Northwestern, the Huskies had 5.2 seconds to work with. It seemed like Ladine had the entire Northwestern team chasing her following the inbound, but somehow, she chucked up one of the most unbelievable shots of the game, knocking down a deep two as the horn sounded to give the Huskies a 46-38 lead heading into the first-half break. In all, Ladine set a new scoring career-high in the first half alone, putting up 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting with three assists and two rebounds. Both teams shot above 55% in the first half, and the ‘Cats were led by Lau and Williams (nine points apiece) in a far more balanced offensive attack. Grace Sullivan added eight on 4-of-5 shooting, and the Wildcats held a +5 rebound advantage, fueled by eight rebounds on the offensive glass.
The second half began with an empty possession for Washington, followed by a nice jumper from Williams. Daniels responded with a two, bringing Washington’s lead back up to eight at 48-40. Williams committed her third foul with 8:46 left in the third quarter, but McKeown kept Williams in the game nonetheless. Casey Harter subsequently took advantage of Ladine’s first turnover of the game with a transition basket, but the ‘Cats couldn’t stop Hannah Stines, who hit Washington’s seventh three of the game to put the Huskies up 51-42. Walsh got her first basket of the game off an assist from Jones, but Daniels took a backdoor feed soon after, and Ladine calmly flipped up a fast-break layup on the next possession. McKeown used a timeout after Ladine’s first points of the half, opting for a stoppage with the score at 55-44.
After the break, Daniels got an easy two, leaving Northwestern with a critical need to take back momentum. After a Wildcat miss, Daniels was absurdly wide open in transition for another basket. Down 59-44 with 5:12 to go in the third quarter, Walsh — who had been quiet to that point — drew a foul inside. She did make both free throws to cut the deficit to 59-46, but Daniels was wide open for two once again on an inside cut. She followed that up with another take to the basket, drawing a foul and sending both teams into the media timeout. Daniels had seemingly usurped Ladine on offense by that point, with 10 third-quarter points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Daniels made one of two to put Washington up 62-46, but Williams responded, making one of two free throws off a foul from Sayvia Sellers. Williams took the ball down the floor on a later possession, drawing a foul but missing both free throws. Hannah Stines responded with another three, and Washington held its largest lead at that point, leading 65-47. Coppinger put the Huskies up 20 with a tough layup inside, but Northwestern finally responded with another Sullivan basket. Mel Daley gave the ‘Cats a 4-0 run with a steal and fast-break layup, eliciting a Husky timeout with 58.8 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Ladine drew a quick foul from Sullivan inside, making both free throws to put Washington up by 18. Williams drew a foul off a rare miss from Sullivan and made one out of two free throws. The grad transfer had struggled at the line entering the game, and Saturday was no different, as she moved up to 7-of-14 in the game at the charity stripe. Ladine missed a three near the end of the quarter, and Lau followed it up with a miracle half-court heave at the buzzer. Suddenly, Northwestern had hope, as Lau’s prayer from three put the ‘Cats down just 14 heading into the fourth.
Mel Daley started the period with a tough miss near the left block, giving the Huskies possession. Daniels continued her strong second half with a jumper for two, giving Washington a 71-55 advantage. Daley missed another mid-ranger, that time near the right elbow, and Ladine hit a free-throw line jump shot to follow. Next, Lau hit a three to improve to 4-of-4 from distance, and she quickly got a steal and assist, timing up the pass to Daley for two. The Huskies used a timeout with 8:25 to go in the fourth quarter and a 73-60 lead.
Coming out of the break, Sellers missed a key three, but Devin Coppinger picked up the offensive rebound. Ladine missed a subsequent three, however, and Northwestern took possession. Sullivan attempted a jumper that was blocked by Daniels. But on the next possession, she blocked Ladine’s three and moved up to three blocks on the game. Neither team managed to break through until Walsh, who had entered the game shortly prior with four fouls, made a layup with an acrobatic finish. Daniels drew a foul inside from Mel Daley, and she made both to bump the Husky lead back to 13. Walsh was blocked on the next possession, and Ladine knocked down a potential dagger for the Huskies, hitting a three in the right corner. Casey Harter was not to be denied, however, making a three of her own before a McKeown timeout with 4:38 on the clock.
Ladine moved up to 37 points with a layup after the timeout. Daley found a way to respond for two in the lane, but Daniels sprinted down the floor for a speedy three-point play, accumulating 20 points of her own on the day. Ladine doubled her teammate, swishing a corner three to put the Huskies up 86-67. After a wide-open finish from Tayra Eke, it seemed as if Northwestern had lost all life, with the Huskies leading 88-67. Ladine checked out of the game shortly after, and from there, the Huskies would coast to a win.
The ‘Cats will be back at Welsh-Ryan Arena on New Year’s Eve to face Oregon. That game will take place at 1 PM CT.