The Wildcats are dealing with a lot of injuries, and it hurt them in DC.
Northwestern didn't have enough offensive juice in Washington, DC against George Washington this afternoon. The 'Cats were undermanned in the Nation's Capital -- down Grace Sullivan, Casey Harter and Daija Turner -- and they fell 75-62.
Caroline Lau led the way for the Wildcats -- especially in the second half. She finished with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting with six assists. Tayla Thomas -- who was tasked with playing the Sullivan roll in the absence of Northwestern's leading scorer -- put up decent numbers as well. She finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Overall, the Wildcats simply didn't shoot well enough to win this game. They did a decent job in the turnover battle, and the defensive effort was there, but they also lost the rebounding battle, 43-33.
In the first quarter, it was immediately clear Northwestern was going to struggle offensively without Sullivan. The 'Cats shot 17% in the opening period, and they were on pace for 40 total points when the buzzer sounded.
In the paint, Thomas did her best to pick up the slack in Sullivan's absence. She did some good things to get in the right spots in the first quarter, and she had a couple offensive boards, but she was also 1-of-6 to open the contest. Defensively, NU got off to a much better start, so it was still in the game trailing 16-10 entering the second quarter.
Thomas started to turn things around in the second quarter, but GW was still able to extend its lead to 32-24. Northwestern's forward was up to nine points at the half, and Angelina Hodgens chipped in with another seven, but the 'Cats struggled to find supplementary offense.
Heading into the second half, Northwestern was shooting just 29% from the field to George Washington's 37% and 0% from three to the home team's 40%. The 'Cats were being thoroughly dominated on the boards, yet another unfortunate impact of Sullivan's injury.
In the third quarter, George Washington continued to maintain a similar lead. Lau came alive offensively for the Wildcats. Northwestern's guard broke the ice for the 'Cats from deep, knocking down two triples in the third quarter.
Unfortunately for NU, everyone else went cold. Hodgens and Thomas did nothing at the beginning of the quarter until the latter snapped out of it in the final minute before the fourth quarter. Lau and Thomas both had 15 when the buzzer sounded.
In the fourth quarter, things got away from the Wildcats. GW outscored them 23-18 in the frame and closed out a comfortable victory vs. Northwestern.
The 'Cats will be back in action after the holidays on Dec. 29 against Washington.They're now 6-6 on the season.