Northwestern University

Sunday’s game against the Braves is the start of a challenging stretch that will see the Cats play four games in six days.

LAST TIME
Northwestern gave No. 23 Michigan all it could handle, falling by a final score of 60-54 in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, last Sunday. The ‘Cats had a strong defensive performance in the loss, limiting a Michigan offense that was ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense on the day to its season-low mark.

Kyla Jones Northwestern led the way on offense, scoring in double figures for the fourth time this season and finishing their afternoon with 14 points. Caileigh Walsh came off the bench and scored 10 points Caroline Lau Hit three triples and had seven assists, leading Northwestern to make a record seven three-point field goals in the loss.

Looking for Bradley
Bradley, led by former Wildcat assistant coach and student-athlete Kate Popovec-Goss, enters Sunday’s meeting with Northwestern with a 5-3 overall record. The Braves dropped a 70-52 decision away to Illinois last Thursday. Bradley, picked 11th in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, is off to his best eight-game start since the 2019-20 season, a year in which the Braves won eight of their first nine contests.

Toledo transfer Soleil Barnes has impressed in the first eight games of her Bradley career, averaging 13.8 points for Popovec-Goss’ team. Barnes has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, a collection highlighted by a 20-point performance in a 72-47 win over IU Indy on Nov. 21 at Renaissance Coliseum.

Bradley made his mark on the defense early this season. The Braves are allowing just 55.8 points per game, a mark that leads the Missouri Valley Conference and ranks 50th overall nationally, and are holding their opponents to an NCAA-best 18.1 percent from beyond three-point range. bow.

SERIAL STUFF
Sunday’s matinee marks just the sixth meeting ever between the two programs, a series in which the Cats hold a slim 3-2 (.600) lead. Both teams are undefeated on their respective home courts in the series, which traces its roots to a 73-57 Wildcat victory on December 3, 1985.

When the two teams met last season on December 17, 2023, Walsh scored a game-high 19 points to lead a quartet of Wildcats in double figures as Northwestern cruised to an 86-66 victory in Evanston, Illinois. Led by six assist efforts from both Melanie Daley And Casey HarterThe ‘Cats were efficient on offense in the win, assisting on 25 of their 33 made field goals.

NEXT
Northwestern is back at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 18, to face UNLV in the program’s annual Field Trip Day game at 11 a.m.