The Cardiac ‘Cats are at it again.
The Wildcats are in the win column.
On Thursday night, Northwestern (1-2, 0-0 B1G) defeated Utah (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) 71-69 in a massive comeback victory, getting its first win of the season. NU was down by as much as 14 points midway through the third quarter but ended the game with a 32-17 run to seal a victory. Caileigh Walsh made the game-winning layup to seal the win for the Wildcats with three seconds left.
Mel Daley had a huge game for Northwestern, leading her team with 23 points on 10-for-23 shooting, as well as three rebounds and three assists. Grace Sullivan was also in double figures with 16 points, two rebounds, and one assist. For the Utes, Jenna Johnson led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while both Gianna Kneepkens and Reese Ross had 14 points apiece.
Overall, Northwestern outperformed Utah significantly in terms of efficiency, with the Wildcats going 28-for-55 (50.9%) while the Utes shot 22-65 (33.8). The Utes were also hurt by their missed free-throw attempts, going just 16-for-26 from the line. These wasted opportunities allowed NU to come away with the victory despite getting 12 fewer free throw attempts.
Taylor Williams won the tipoff and both teams got straight into it, going bucket for bucket all game.
Northwestern struck first as Kyla Jones drove along the baseline for a layup. A forced defensive turnover by the ‘Cats led to Taylor Williams posting up in the paint and spinning for two more. Kneepkens fired back, going up strong in the paint for the Utes’ first basket of the game. Mayè Tourè followed it up with a jumper from beyond the arc.
Kyla Jones built up momentum for a scooping layup, but Johnson responded with a spot-up 3-point jumper, giving Utah an 8-6 lead midway through the first quarter.
Getting right back into it after the media timeout, Sullivan recorded an emphatic block on Johnson’s layup attempt. Yet, Northwestern couldn’t capitalize, and Utah’s Matyson Wilke was the next to score as she cut through the defense for the easy lay-in. Soon after, Inês Vieira nabbed another two for the Utes from far outside her body.
Northwestern finally responded as Sullivan shimmied around in the paint for a pirouetting lay. Casey Harter hit a close jumper soon after to cut Utah’s lead to 12-10. Posted in the paint unguarded on the next possession, Tourè converted a quick pass to an easy two points.
Utah remained up 14-10 for a few possessions as neither team could find the net. That streak was broken by Melannie Daley, as she received an in-transition half-court pass for an easy layup. However, Wilke responded at the buzzer with an uncontested layup to put Utah up 16-12 heading into the 2nd quarter.
The ‘Cats scored first in the 2nd quarter by virtue of a deep midrange stepback two from Daley. Yet the Utes quickly responded as Wilke drew the defense in and dished it out to Ross for the open three. Daley again got the ball in her hands and rotated to the top of the key for another deep midrange jumper, bringing the score to 19-16 Utah with 7:50 left in the 2nd quarter.
Kneepkens was fouled and shot the first free throws of the game shortly afterward, hitting both of them. Caileigh Walsh then received an over-the-shoulder pass in the paint for an easy put-in.
Ross hit another three before going to the line a few possessions later and missing both free throws. Then, off a short miss by Caroline Lau, Daley secured the board and shot a post jumper for two more points for NU.
On the next possession, Ross cut into the lane for a scoop-lay, issuing in the first timeout of the 2nd quarter with Utah leading 26-20 with 5:00 left before the half.
Straight out of the timeout, Daley sized up her defender beyond the arc and shot the three in her eye. Running back on the following possession, Daley lobbed a half-court pass to Tayla Thomas for the transition two.
Ross got the ball again and slid past the defense on her and-1 lay-in. She missed the foul shot, but the Utes recovered the ball, leading to a Vieira catch-and-shoot three. Daley responded by driving to the hole for two. Utah led 31-27 with 2:47 left in the 2nd.
Utah closed out the half, starting with Johnson splitting her free throws. Xamiya Walton then passed the ball directly to Kennedy McQueen, leading to the fast break bucket for her. Finally, Kneepkens waited at the top of the key for an uncontested three, the last points of the first half. Utah entered halftime up 37-27.
Coming out of the half, Williams strong-armed her way to the rim and Sullivan hit a fadeaway on subsequent possessions. Then, Johnson went back to the line and split her foul shots to make the score 38-31 Utah.
Kyla Jones spun around for her shot off the inbound pass before Johnson again responded with a spot-up three. A few possessions later, Kneepkens hit a three from the same spot. On the next possession, Sullivan is fouled on a turnaround jumper and hits both subsequent foul shots. With 6:19 left in the 3rd, Johnson was fouled. She made both free throws, bringing the score to 44-35 with Utah comfortably in the lead.
Daley responded with a central jump shot, but Johnson rebutted with a second-chance reverse layup and a size-up three. Another Daley jumper led to a Northwestern timeout, with Utah leading 51-39 with 3:43 left in the 3rd. It was at that point that the entire momentum changed.
Coming out of the timeout, Walsh hit an and-one turn-around push-in jumper and made her free throw. Ross found her way back to the free throw line, splitting her foul shots.
Then Sullivan went on an absolute tear. She was fouled and hit both her free throws. She found her mismatch on the following possession and spun for two more. On the next possession, Sullivan launched a deep midrange jumper, leading NU on a 6-0 run over the last 1:46.
Samantha Crispe was fouled and hit both shots at the line, but Williams retaliated in the exact same manner, hitting both her shots as well. The 3rd quarter ended as Daley hit a buzzer-beater running jumper to cut Utah’s lead to only two points. Utah led 54-52 going into the 4th quarter.
Entering into the 4th, Lau got a quick steal and passed it to Daley who was fouled on her way up. She hit both to tie it all up.
A startling false alarm fire emergency at the Welsh-Ryan Arena interrupted the game for nearly ten minutes before play could continue. Once the false fire emergency had ended and play resumed, the ‘Cats got right back to it as Daley hit a wide-open jumper to give Northwestern their first lead since they led 4-2 at the 8:37 mark in the 1st.
Wilke responded with a breakaway lay, to which Tayla Thomas fired back with an open three. Consecutive defensive screw-ups and a turnover led to easy Mayè Tourè and Kennady McQueen layups. With 6:13 remaining, Utah led 60-59.
Kneepkens was fouled and split her foul shot and Kyla Jones cut the defense for a reverse layup to tie everything up at 61-61. Next, Jones and Sullivan were fouled back to back. Jones split her foul shots, and Sullivan made both of hers. Vieira also went to the line and hit both of hers to give Utah a narrow 64-63 lead.
However, a Sullivan jumper and Harter and-one lay in on a fast break then put Northwestern up by four. Ross went back to the line and hit one of two, and Northwestern led 69-66 with 50 seconds remaining.
Wilke missed the game-tying three on Utah’s inbound pass, but both teams got wrapped up with the ball, resulting in a jump ball that went to Utah. This time the inbound went to Kneepkens who shot the deep three, which she was fouled on by Daley. Kneepkens went to the line and made all three of her shots to tie the game up 69-69 with 8.3 seconds remaining.
Northwestern took its timeout, and when it came out, it opted to inbound to Walsh who pump faked and stepped through for what was the game-winning two with three seconds left.
THE GAME WINNER pic.twitter.com/3TRsSSSGff
— Northwestern Women’s Basketball (@nuwbball) November 15, 2024
Utah took their timeout and chose to inbound to Ross on the inside of the paint. Ross went up with the contested shot, but the ball met the front of the rim. Northwestern recovered the ball and threw it to the jumbotron as the ‘Cats secured the comeback victory 71-69.
The Wildcats will return to the Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday, November 23rd to take on the Harvard Crimson at 12:00 p.m. CST