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The Northwestern Wildcats (6-4) earned a solid 68-36 win over the Stony Brook Seawolves (5-4) on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats’ swarming defense and 20 points from Lindsey Pulliam proved to be the difference.
In the first-ever meeting between the schools in women’s basketball, Northwestern proved to be the better team by a significant margin. Northwestern started out slowly, but rallied from an early 8-2 deficit by completely shutting down the Stony Brook offense. Stony Brook shot just 24.1 percent from the field and turned the ball over 20 times. After a close first quarter, Pulliam and the Wildcats broke away with a 20-9 second quarter. By halftime, the lead was up to 12 points, and the game was never in doubt afterward.
The second half was procedural as Stony Brook could only manage 14 points over 20 minutes. Northwestern’s defense was matched by more efficient offensive play. Abi Scheid added 11 more points and Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah scored 9. Northwestern shot 37.5 percent from three on the day.
Pulliam is now averaging 15.5 points per game and is shooting 83.7 percent from the line. At times, she looks like a Northwestern version of James Harden in transition. Through 10 games, she’s been Northwestern’s best player and already looks like a star in the making.
Northwestern’s next game is against DePaul on December 13th at 7 p.m. That game should also be on BTN Plus.