Northwestern met Ohio State again today in Welsh-Ryan Arena, this time in women's basketball. Unfortunately for the 'Cats, they made it an 0-2 weekend between the two hoops teams with a 79-70 loss to the No. 23 team in the country.

Early in the contest, Northwestern competed, but the wheels fell off in the middle of the second quarter, and it wasn't able to scrap its way back into the game. The Buckeyes essentially dominated the rest of the way, and an opportunity for a massive upset to begin Big Ten play was squandered.

Grace Sullivan, of course, meant business for Northwestern. She finished with 37 points on 17-of-28 shooting. Her percentages this season won't be as high as they should be -- she simply has to take a lion's share of the shots for this team every game. If she didn't, the 'Cats wouldn't be running the offense that gives them the best chance to win. She's that good down in the post.

After Sullivan, NU's second leading scorer was Casey Harter with 11 points and three triples. Supplementary scoring was hard to come by in this game, and it hurt Northwestern. The Buckeyes also won the turnover battle, 19-13, and the rebounding battle was tight at 38-37 in favor of the 'Cats. 

The 'Cats just couldn't carve out a significant advantage in any category in this one, and too much fell on Sullivan to will them forward. She was great, but it wasn't enough.

Northwestern got off to a really impressive start in the first quarter behind an offensive masterclass of a frame from Sullivan. The 'Cats' leading scorer was already up to 14 points on the afternoon at the end of the first frame. For context, NU led 16-10 heading into the second quarter. 

Additionally, the 'Cats were showing a lot of effort on the glass early, leading the rebounding battle 15-9. That total included seven offensive rebounds -- which only resulted in four second chance points -- but is still quite the total for one 10-minute period. Northwestern also led the turnover battle 6-4 after the first.

In the second quarter, though, things started to get away from the Wildcats. They surrendered the rebounding battle, shot poorly and fell behind 33-25, scoring just nine points in the quarter to OSU's 23.

Sullivan finished the half with 18 points, cooling off just a touch towards the end. Outside of her, Northwestern really struggled to get anyone else going on offense. The 'Cats shot 34% from the field in the first half, and Sullivan had 9-of-12 made shots.

It only got worse in the second half. The 'Cats lost the third quarter 28-22 and then won the fourth quarter 23-18. If it weren't for garbage time points, they likely would have lost the fourth, too.

Sullivan kept on scoring, but nobody else emerged as an offensive threat. As turnover problems reared their ugly head once again and baskets refused to drop, the Wildcats weren't able to take advantage of an otherwise semi-competitive effort vs. a ranked team.

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