Women's basketball: Northwestern's seven-game winning streak earns Wildcats Team of the Week honors

Northwestern stretched its winning streak to seven games last week, scoring wins over Rutgers and Wisconsin that tied the school record for most wins in a season in the NCAA era with 24, while vaulting the Wildcats into a first-place tie with Maryland in the Big Ten standings with two games left to play in the regular season.

The Wildcats, 24-3 and 14-2 Big Ten, defeated Rutgers 82-65 at home on Feb. 19 and then prevailed 82-66 at Wisconsin on Saturday. With the 24 wins, Northwestern matched its 1989-90 Big Ten title-winning team for the most wins scored by a Wildcats squad in the NCAA era. The outright program record is 25 wins, set in 1978-79.

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In the latest win over Wisconsin, the Wildcats used a 14-0 run early in the fourth quarter to secure the win and eliminate the half-game gap at the top of the Big Ten standings. Junior guard Lindsey Pulliam capped off a dominant weekend with her second 25-plus point game in a row, dropping 28 on the Badgers, connecting on 13-of-20 shots from the field. Pulliam added six rebounds and five assists.

Veronica Burton, Abi Scheid and Sydney Wood each added double digits as well in a balanced offensive effort. Wood finished with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting while racking up seven rebounds and four assists. Burton tallied 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Scheid came close to a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. As a team, the Wildcats shot over 50 percent from the field and exactly 50 percent from behind the arc for the second game in a row. Northwestern scored a crucial 19 points off of turnovers in the contest and decimated the Badgers with ball movement, finishing with 23 assists. 

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The win at Wisconsin came three days after Northwestern rode a balanced attack to a coast-to-coast home victory over Rutgers. Pulliam stuffed the stat sheet with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Burton followed close behind with 23 points on a near-perfect 8-for-9 shooting performance along with five steals. Abbie Wolf also pitched in with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Northwestern shot 59.1% (13-for-22) from the field and 55.6% (5-for-9) from three in the first half on their way to a 37-22 halftime lead. Pulliam had 15 points at the break, aided by a 3-for-4 performance from deep. Burton followed her up with nine points, while Wolf added eight points and three blocks.

The Wildcats quest for a Big Ten Title continues with a stern test on Tuesday on the road at Ohio State. A win would not only tie the school record for wins in a season, but would also provide Northwestern with an opportunity to clinch a share of the title at home on Saturday, Feb. 29 against Illinois.

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