Rapid Reaction: Northwestern Women’s Basketball bests Milwaukee 64-60 to open Berube era

Northwestern Women’s Basketball (1-0, 0-0 B1G) kicked off the official start of the Carla Berube era with a bang, defeating UW Milwaukee (0-1, 0-0 Horizon) 64-60 Tuesday night. The game, though tumultuous, showed bright spots around the starting five. Junior transfer Lily Carmody led the scoring for Northwestern with 21 points, and Casey Harter notched 16 of her own. Jasmyn Cooper-Derba led the team with rebounds at 12. For Milwaukee, Rita Gomes shined from outside the arc, going 100% on six attempts for three. Izzy Pugh followed Gomes with 11 points on the night. Milwaukee won the tip-off and immediately started to operate in Northwestern’s end. The ‘Cats, however, pressed the issue and forced the shot clock down to zero against the Panthers. The two teams exchanged possessions before Carmody sank Northwestern’s first basket of the game thanks to a driving layup.The Panthers responded quickly: Jada Williams, Payton Rechlicz and Tierney Madigan combined for the game’s next six points. Jasmyn Cooper-Derba tried to settle the score for the ‘Cats, drawing a foul for a three-point play with 6:47 in the half. 30seconds later, she added another three points to her tally on the night from the right side of the arc to make the score 8-6 Northwestern. Milwaukee continued to stress out the Wildcats on defense. With two made free throws, Williams tied the game for the Panthers at 8-8 and easily cut up Northwestern’s attempted zone defense. Rudimentary fouls nagged at Northwestern: back-to-back travel calls forced Berube to call a timeout with 4:57 left in the first quarter.After the break, Northwestern’s defense continued to look sloppy. On the offensive, however, Casey Harter assumed authority, notching her first three points of the game to push the ‘Cats up 11-8 and then again assisting Righeimer with 3:29to go in the first quarter. The late first-quarter surge appeared to inject some confidence into the ‘Cats. Carmody was triple-teamed by Panthers at one point late in the first quarter, and she was able to easily slip the ball to Camdyn Nelson to make the game 15-10. Two three-point plays from Izzy Pugh and Rita Gomes, however, helped Milwaukee regain the lead. The first quarter ended 18-15, with Milwaukee’s late eight-point run carrying it over the mark.In the second quarter, Northwestern switched from zone to man defense. The move could not stop Gomes, who sank another trey. Harter quickly responded with a three of her own, reducing Northwestern’s deficit to three points.The next few minutes were a tale of two ends of the court for Northwestern. Cooper-Derba shined on defense, picking up her fourth defensive rebound of the night. Yet, the Wildcats struggled to convert on offense — both contested and uncontested. Nelson and Carmody went a combined 1-for-4 on free throws, leaving Northwestern in a scoreless drought for threeminutes before Lexi Blue tied the game up at 21. With 5:04 left in the half, the dam opened up — at least, relatively speaking. Brooke Golden got her first basket on the night to match Madigan’s second, but missed two free throws to prevent NU from taking the lead.Neither team produced from open play for another three minutes before Cooper-Derba notched a triple with 1:14 to go. That success didn’t last long for Northwestern, however, as Williams and Madigan combined to retake the lead for Milwaukee. Carmody’s driving layup finished out the half, but it was little consolation for the ‘Cats as they left for the locker room down 30-28.At half, Cooper-Derba led Northwestern on both sides of the court with nine points and six rebounds. Northwestern struggled to protect the ball, committing nine turnovers in the first half, with Carmody responsible for four, and shot 29% from the free-throw line. For the Panthers, Madigan led the scoring at seven, with Pugh following closely behind with five.Cooper-Derba opened up the third quarter right where she left off, with a three-point jumper from the top of the key. Nelson diversified the scoring for the ‘Cats with 8:08 to go, putting up an underhand layup to push the score to 33-30 Northwestern. The Wildcats staved off the Panthers for nearly four minutes before Madison Fitzgibbon broke the seal with a layup. Pugh capitalized on another Carmody turnover, pushing the Panthers’ lead to 34-33. Carmody rectified the situation by sinking two free throws, giving her seven points on the night, but Rechlicz’s triple neutralized Northwestern’s lead, edging the game back to 37-35 with 4:31 left in the third quarter.Gomes then sank a rather-uncontested three for Milwaukee for her third on the night. Carmody’s four-point surge with 3:29 to go in the third, however, once again put the score at a razor-thin margin. Carmody tried to link up with Nelson, but Nelson was quickly pickpocketed by Madigan who found Pugh in the paint to sink a two. Golden retaliated with a layup of her own, but Madigan’s ninth point of the night maintained Milwaukee’s 44-41 lead. Harter, who remained quiet throughout the game, displayed glimmers of promise in the back end of the third quarter. She rejected Rechlicz with 1:08 remaining, but Jaeda Murphy ensured that Milwaukee finished the third quarter up 46-43.The fourth quarter started slow for Northwestern. Blue missed two uncontested three-point opportunities in the first 90 seconds, but Harter recovered with four points via the free-throw line and the paint. Gomes and Pugh pulled out their signature finishes, a trey and a jumper in the paint, respectively, to maintain a 51-47 lead for Milwaukee. Carmody’s second-half surge continued as she converted a layup and a free throw to reduce Northwestern’s deficit to one. With 5:37 to go, the ‘Cats were down 51-50. Carmody’s clutch layup a minute later put Northwestern in control.Though Milwaukee’s Fitzgibbon sought to turn the tide with a trey, Righeimer was having none of it. Her three-pointer from the right side of the arc put Northwestern back up 55-54, an interesting shift from the trailing precedent it set in the first half.Out of a Milwaukee-initiated timeout, Northwestern came out strong on defense. Cooper-Derba’s block in the paint with 3:29 remaining in the game propelled the ‘Cats into the front court before a foul call on Righeimer derailed their offensive momentum. Carmody hit the 20-point mark with 2:12to go as she muscled into the paint and nailed a driving layup to push NU up 57-54. Seconds later, Carmody found Harter on the run through the paint to hit a layup and make the game 59-54. Gomes then notched her fifth three-pointer of the night on the right side of the arc, but Harter’s last-second pullup jumper from outside the paint and two made free throws helped Northwestern maintain a 63-57 lead with 16 seconds to go.Though it looked like Northwestern had overcome a bump, Gomes seemed determined to flip the script. With her sixth made trey, she reduced the Panthers’ deficit to three with 10 seconds left. However,Carmody saved the day for the ‘Cats at the line, ensuring that Northwestern finished on top 64-60.The ‘Cats continue at Welsh-Ryan on Thursday, when they face Xavier at 7:00 p.m. CST. Streaming will be on Big Ten Plus.