Long distance shooting dooms ’Cats on long road trip.
It was another tough road trip in the Wild West for the Wildcats.
Northwestern (6-7, 0-2 B1G) was unable to overcome a three-point shooting barrage from the now-11-2 Washington Huskies (16-of-36 on the night), falling 73-94 in the last game of 2025. The game is yet another stumble for the Wildcats, who are still searching for their first victory since November 28th following a 6-0 start to the year.
Grace Sullivan ended the game with 30 points to lead all scorers, adding eight boards as well. Xamiyah Walton chipped in with 12 off the bench, including seven in the second half. Caroline Lau had ten assists to lead all players. Elle Ladine and Ashley Howell each put up 23 points for Washington, with Sayvia Sellers chipping in with 19 and a team-high four assists.
Washington won the opening tip off and cashed in on its first possession with a Hannah Stines corner from the right wing. A steal on an NU pass a few possessions later would lead to wide open Elle Ladine three to give the Huskies an early 6-0 lead. Thomas got NU on the board the following possession with a layup down low. Grace Sullivan scored her first points of the night off a feed from Caroline Lau to make the game 6-4.
Washington continued to move the ball around and hunt for open looks from beyond the arc, but couldn’t get them to fall. On the other end, the Wildcats pushed the pace in transition and attacked the rim whenever possible. Thomas’ second bucket of the night made it 6-8 in favor of Washington and ended a near two-minute scoring drought. Coming back down the floor, though, Avery Howell hit a straight-on three at the 4:47 mark, ending a streak of four consecutive misses from the Huskies.
Sullivan came back out firing, going perfect on her free throw trip coming out of the TV timeout and blocking a Sayvia Sellers layup a few possessions later. Washington responded, as Howell hit her second three of the night. A pullup mid-range from Casey Harter was followed by a long triple from Sellers. Head coach Joe McKeown was forced to call a timeout amidst an 8-2 Husky run.
Out of the timeout, Harter hit her second consecutive mid range jumper before Sellers drove to the rim and hit a tough layup through contact. She finished the three-point play at the line. Walton hit a three from the right corner, and Harter continued her big first quarter with a three on the following possession. A Brynn Mcgaughy layup capped off the first quarter, with the Huskies up 24-18.
Stines’ third three-point attempt of the game—Washington’s 13th—was the first of the half. It hit back iron, and the teams exchanged turnovers and two more misses from beyond the arc before Ladine euro-stepped through the lane and laid it up to finally open the second quarter scoring. Washington’s on-ball pressure continued to give NU problems, as the ‘Cats committed four turnovers before registering their first made field goal of the second period with a Sullivan patented turnaround midrange jumper.
A Tate Lash layup was sandwiched between two Washington three pointers to give the Huskies a 34-22 lead going into the second quarter media timeout. Out of the break, a Grace Sullivan free throw line jumper was immediately answered by another Howell three, the eight of the game by the home side. A poor quarter for the Wildcats was made worse when Caroline Lau was forced to leave the game with an apparent injury after coming down hard while battling for a defensive rebound.
Washington continued to match NU’s success in the paint with makes from beyond the arc, as Sellers responded to layups from Sullivan and Thomas with back-to-back three pointers. Walton hit a long two before Howell dribbled to the right wing and cashed in on the Huskies’ third consecutive make from downtown. A late Thomas free throw off a last-second foul made it 46-33 at the break.
For the Wildcats, Sullivan led the way with 12 points on eight shots, while also leading the team with five rebounds. Lau put up five rebounds and five assists before leaving the game. Harter also had 7 points For Washington, 11 of its 17 made field goals in the quarter came from beyond the arc. Howell led all scorers with 15 with five makes from three point land. Sellers and Ladine followed up with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The second half saw good news for Wildcats fans as Lau returned to the court. Ladine was sent to the charity stripe after getting fouled on a three-pointer, knocking down all three free throws. Sellers continued her great night by getting to the rim for an easy layup. The teams would then exchange layups before Stines was sent to the free throw line for two. NU broke a full court press for a Sullivan layup to continue the back and forth and make the score 39-55 in UW’s favor. A sequence of three consecutive offensive rebounds then led to more Husky free throws. A crosscourt pass from Lau found Walton for three, but Sellers answered right back on the next play. A Howell transition layup off a Lau turnover opened up a 20-point lead for Washington going into the media timeout, with all momentum in the stands and on the court in the Huskies’ favor.
After scoring seven in the first half, Harter hit what would be her only shot of the second half; a three from the left corner. A steal by Walton led to another fastbreak and a midrange jumper for Sullivan. Ladine’s third three of the game was followed by fastbreak layups from Lau and then Stines, before a Sullivan fadeaway capped off a flurry of scoring before a McKeown timeout finally arrived.
The scoring run continued as Ladine hit an and-one layup to give her 23 points, before Thomas answered with an old-fashioned three point play of her own. Northwestern continued to get the ball into the paint and earn free throw attempts, shooting 4-of-5 in the last two minutes of the quarter. Two Husky free throws meant the third quarter ended at 71-57, Washington. NU was still in it, though, cutting the deficit down from 20.
Washington opened the final quarter with yet another three point jumper, the first of the game for Devin Coppinger. Sullivan knocked down two middies to start, but Washington continued to pile on the scoring. Howell’s career-high sixth three was immediately followed by a Stines jumper from the corner and a Sellers driving layup as the lead quickly ballooned to 25 points. NU continued to fight, as Lash hit a fallaway shot and drew a foul to cut the lead back down to twenty, but with less than five minutes on the clock, the game had begun to slip out of the Cats’ reach.
Sullivan continued to score at will, finishing at the rim and getting to the free throw line, but Washington was able to match every Northwestern basket with points of its own at the charity stripe. With 1:45 left, both teams took out the starters, and Washington would score the final three points of the game to end the contest at 94-73 in a seventh straight NU loss.
Northwestern will stay in the Northwest, taking a short trip down to Eugene to face Oregon (12-2, 0-1 B1G) on Jan. 1 at 4:00 p.m. CT for a New Year’s Day battle.
Category: General Sports
