It’s Thursday and the winter season is in full swing. Amelia Donhauser gets you caught up on everything you need to know about NU sports.
Photo by Northwestern Athletics / nusports.com
Hi, I’m Amelia Donhauser. Here’s your NU Sports report for this week.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
On Wednesday, the 12-4 ‘Cats faced off at Welsh Ryan against the Maryland Terps, coming off a brutal loss to then #15 Wisconsin in Madison. In a close game, the ‘Cats won 72-69. Star guard graduate student Boo Buie again led the way with 20 points and seven assists. Junior Brooks Barnhizer had 15 points with a career-high of five steals. In a close game at the half, Buie made a floater at the buzzer to give the ‘Cats the lead at halftime, 32-28. The Terps kept it close the rest of the way thanks to the efforts of Jahmir Young, who had 36 points. With 30 seconds remaining in the game, Young gave Maryland the lead 67-66, but the ‘Cats retook the lead with a Buie layup with 20 seconds left as the ‘Cats squeezed out the win. The now 13-4 ‘Cats are now 4-2 in Big Ten play and 3rd in the conference behind Wisconsin and Purdue–respectively. They will travel to Nebraska on Saturday to face the Huskers at 1:15 pm CT.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
In women’s basketball, after coming off a blowout loss from their in-state rivals, the Fighting Illini, the ‘Cats looked to get back on course as they took on the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing. Despite their best efforts, the ‘Cats couldn’t capitalize, losing 91-72 to the Spartans. Junior guard Melannie Daley led the way for the ‘Cats with 18 points and two rebounds. Junior guard Hailey Weaver had 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists. The Cats struggled from the beginning, having eight turnovers after the end of the first quarter, and the Spartans had 17 points off turnovers at the half. At halftime, the ‘Cats were down 50-28. The difference was that the Spartans had six players in double-digits, while the ‘Cats only had three in the game. Overall, the ‘Cats are now 7-11 and 2-5 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats will return home to Welsh Ryan next Thursday to face off against Penn State at 7:00 pm CT.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
And in swimming and diving, on Saturday, the ‘Cats traveled to UChicago just down the road, where they dominated the DIII Maroons. On the women’s side, they ended with a 221-69 victory, with graduate student Ayla Spitz leading the way. She placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle, 100 butterflies, and 100 free. Spitz beat her personal best in both the butterfly and the free with times of 53.46 and 49.64–respectively. The women won each of the 16 events raced. On the men’s side, they won 221-73 with the help of first-years David Gerchik, Diego Nosack, and graduate student Ben Forbes. Nosack won the 200 fly and 200 IM. Gerchik won the 50 free and 200 back, with Forbes winning the 200 and 500 free. UChicago senior Jesse Ssengonzi was the only maroon to win an event on the day, as he came .04 seconds short of a DIII record for the 100 fly. The ‘Cats will host Wisconsin on January 20th at 11 am CT for their first Big Ten matchup of the season.
FENCING
And finally, in fencing, the sabre No. 5 ‘Cats competed at the Tufts Invitational this past Sunday, taking 1 of 3 on the day. In the first event, the ‘Cats lost 21-6 to #10 Cornell going 2-7 in epee, 3-6 in foil, and 1-8 in sabre. In the second event, the ‘Cats lost to Wellesley 14-13, although first-year Alex Chen and Senior Levi Hoogendoorn were undefeated 3-0 in the sabre team. Yet their valiant efforts were not enough. In the final event on the day against Tufts, the ‘Cats dominated 21-6 overall with a breakdown of 8-1 in epee, 6-3 in foil, and 7-2 in sabre. First-year Alex Chen posted a team-best of six individual victories. Next Sunday, the ‘Cats will visit UPenn for the Philadelphia Invitational.
That wraps up your NU Sports report for this week. For more information about upcoming games, as well as how you can watch the Wildcats live, visit www.nusports.com.
I’m Amelia Donhauser, WNUR News.
