Women’s Basketball: Northwestern upsets Iowa, moves on in Big Ten Tournament

The Daily Northwestern Nia Coffey attempts a layup. The senior put on an 34-point showstopper in Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament win over Iowa.Allie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternAllie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternNia Coffey attempts a layup. The senior put on an 34-point showstopper in Northwestern's Big Ten Tournament win over Iowa. Cole Paxton, Assistant Sports EditorMarch 2, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS — Northwestern didn’t enter the Big Ten Tournament with much going for it. The Wildcats struggled through February, lost their finale on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater and fell to Iowa by 19 in their lone regular-season meeting.
Against Iowa on Thursday, Nia Coffey changed that quickly.
The star senior forward put NU (20-10, 8-8 Big Ten) on her back, scoring a season-high 34 points and willing the Cats to an 78-73 win over the Hawkeyes (17-13, 8-8) in the Big Ten Tournament.
“She’s amazing,” fellow senior Lauren Douglas said. “I love playing with her. She makes everybody else’s job easier.”
The win was NU’s first away from home in over a month and gives the Cats a Friday matchup with top-seeded Ohio State.
The Cats charged back from a brief fourth quarter deficit, getting a clutch layup from Coffey inside the final two minutes. NU made the final moments interesting, turning the ball over once and nearly doing so a second time, but senior guard Ashley Deary and Douglas iced the game with two pairs of free throws.
Douglas, a forward, continued her strong late-season play, adding 15 points, and senior guard Christen Inman contributed 11 more. The Cats shot better than 45 percent, helped by Coffey’s impressive 15-of-26 line, and broke out with their highest scoring output since Jan. 14.
“Not turning the ball over was a really big thing for us,” Deary said. “That made a big difference. We got open looks.”
Still, Coffey was undisputably the star of the show. She scored in a variety of ...


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