Big Green Come up Short at Northwestern

Saturday, December 7

Evanston, Ill.

3:00 PM ET

Dartmouth College

Northwestern

Annie McKenna women's basketball action versus Vermont

Senior Annie McKenna

Photo by: Doug Austin

12/7/2019 4:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Despite being outsized, Dartmouth outrebounded the Wildcats

By: Mike Miezejeski

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern used its size to overwhelm Dartmouth, 79-37, Saturday afternoon in Evanston at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Big Green fall to 3-3, while the Wildcats improve to 7-1.

Playing in her home city, Annie McKenna led Dartmouth with 12 points, sinking 4-5 from 3-point land. Asha Taylor and Kealy Brown each had seven and Katie Douglas scored six with a career-high five assists.

Dartmouth won the rebounding battle, 34-32, but Northwestern shot 55.9 percent from the field and held the Big Green to 26.4 percent. The Wildcats had four players in double figures led by Lindsay Pulliam's 16. Abbie Wolf finished with 14 on 6-7 shooting and 2-2 from the free throw line.

"This is clearly the best team on our non-conference schedule and these experiences are important because it's what we and our league is aspiring to become," said Belle Koclanes, the Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82 and Family Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "It was a great homecoming for Annie McKenna and we are going to pull out incredible lessons from this trip as we progress through the rest of the season."

The 6'4 Wolf scored the first two baskets in the paint for the home squad. Elle Louie then made Dartmouth's first points, but the Wildcats quickly poured in the next 14 to take an 18-2 lead at the 4:39 mark. Taylor and McKenna each scored for a 5-2 spurt to end the quarter down, 20-7.

The Wildcats did not allow Dartmouth to score until 3:42 to go in the half. In the meantime, Northwestern dropped the first 16 points for an 18-0 run dating back to the first. Taylor ended the drought with a corner triple and Brown followed with a layup to bring the score to 36-12 with 2:40 to go. The Wildcats called timeout and responded by closing the half on a 7-2 run to make it 43-14 at the break.

Douglas and McKenna each hit 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the third as Dartmouth kept up with the Wildcats. Northwestern closed the quarter by scoring the next 13 of 18 points to build its lead to 62-26. Brown hit a three in the final minute for the Big Green's third trifecta of the quarter. The Wildcats then won the fourth quarter, 17-11, to close the game.

The Big Green return to Hanover where they will play their Education Day game at noon on Tuesday against Maine. Students from local elementary schools will attend the game and there will be education-based events for them to participate in.