Women’s Basketball: Turnovers doom Northwestern in ugly Big Ten Tournament loss

The Daily Northwestern Ashley Deary struggles against her defender. The senior guard committed five of the Wildcats' 21 turnovers in Friday's loss to Ohio State.Allie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternAllie Goulding/The Daily NorthwesternAshley Deary struggles against her defender. The senior guard committed five of the Wildcats' 21 turnovers in Friday's loss to Ohio State. Cole Paxton, Assistant Sports EditorMarch 3, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS — Northwestern players traveled seeking paths around Ohio State defenders. They were flummoxed by the Buckeyes’ press break. They committed charges left and right.
In short, the Wildcats gave the ball away. A lot.
NU (20-11, 8-8 Big Ten) committed 21 turnovers, tying a season high and leaving the Cats in a huge first half hole they never recovered from in No. 9 Ohio State’s (26-5, 15-1) 99-68 win Friday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Sixteen of those giveaways came in the opening two quarters.
Foul trouble compounded NU’s woes. Senior guard Ashley Deary, the Cats’ only consistent ball handler, picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and was forced to the bench for the remainder of the half. Depth issues have forced Deary into playing all 40 minutes in several recent games; freshman guard Byrdy Galernik saw her most significant action in weeks on Friday.
“It’s hard to be on the floor without her. And (her) picking up three fouls put us in a bind,” coach Joe McKeown said. “The things we probably needed to do against Ohio State, we just couldn’t get done today against the press.”
Senior forward Nia Coffey also tallied three first-half fouls, forcing another valuable veteran off the court and leaving the Cats to rely on a cast of less experienced players.
NU’s woes against the full-court press were somewhat of a surprise, as the Cats broke it effectively in the opening minutes. The turnovers started flowing shortly thereafter, however, against a Buckeyes ...


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