Northwestern keeps streak alive with 86-83 victory over Wisconsin

For a while, it seemed as though Northwestern's quest for an NCAA tournament bid would be sidetracked, but a second-half comeback allowed Northwestern to keep their winning streak alive.

Northwestern trailed 31-23 at the half to an inferior Wisconsin team (8-18 overall, 4-12 Big Ten), but came back behind Nia Coffey's 21 points and forced overtime. They jumped out to an 80-72 lead in overtime and hung on for the eventual 86-83 victory, their seventh straight.

Maggie Lyon added 15 points on 3-6 shooting from three and Ashley Deary had 12 points and 5 assists. Nicole Bauman led Wisconsin with 22 points and 7 rebounds.

Northwestern is now 21-6 and 11-5 in Big Ten play and is in a four-way tie for third place in the conference. The top-four teams in the Big Ten will earn a double-bye in the conference tournament.

It seems as though after a mid-season slump Northwestern's tournament prospects are looking very, very good. ESPN's resident bracketologist, Charlie Creme, has Northwestern as a nine-seed in his most recent bracket, but that was before Northwestern beat #21 Nebraska on Wednesday and Wisconsin today.

The remainder of Northwestern's schedule is brutal, however. They host #19 Rutgers on Thursday before hosting #5 Maryland in the season finale on May 1.