Northwestern was blown out again today, this time against cross-state rival Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
This marked its ninth straight loss, many of which weren't competitive, and its last win came over a month ago. In head coach Joe McKeown's final season, the 'Cats are unfortunately not finding much success.
Given how things have been going, this one felt over from the middle of the first quarter. The 'Cats were down 27-17 heading into the second, and they lost that quarter by a margin of 30-16.
Defense was a huge issue for Northwestern, but it is also important to note that the Illini shot the lights out early in this contest, especially from deep. The road team entered the locker room at half time shooting a ridiculous 89% from beyond the arc.
Still, NU's defense was not up to snuff, and it kept giving Illinois more and more opportunities, turning the ball over and allowing offensive boards. Overall, the 'Cats turned the ball over 16 times in the game, and those turnovers led to 27 Illini points on the opposite end.
Illinois also out-rebounded the Wildcats by a 39-21 margin, including 14 of the offensive variety. With all those extra possessions, it became essentially impossible for Northwestern to keep up.
One bright spot for the 'Cats was forward Tayla Thomas. She had her best game of the season, scoring 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting. She also tacked on six rebounds for good measure. It was a truly dominant performance, but nobody else was nearly as productive.
Grace Sullivan, who the Wildcats typically rely on to lead the way on the stat sheet, scored 13 points. That's a solid effort, but far from her best work. Xamiya Walton also chipped in for 12 points from the guard spot.
Entering the second half, it was going to take a drastic flip in the game script for Northwestern to come out on top. Illinois did regress a little bit shooting the ball, but the 'Cats didn't score enough to take advantage.
In the third quarter, they were outscored by six, and the game was over from there.
The Wildcats shot the ball tag a 46% clip from the field throughout the entire game. That should put any team in a decent spot to at least be in the game in the fourth quarter.
But, once again, Northwestern shot itself in the foot with turnovers and rebounding troubles. This is a team that actually can score a little bit, especially when Sullivan is on her game. But it proves time and time again that the odds of it playing a complete game in all facets are always low.
Northwestern will be back in action on Wednesday to take on No. 14 Maryland on the road.