On the shore of Lake Michigan, approximately 8.5 miles north of Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Field, lies one of our country’s most prestigious universities. An academic institution responsible for producing some of the most famous names in American sports journalism: Brent Musberger, Michael Wilbon, Craig Sager and Mike Greenberg to name a few. On Nov. 5 the IU Indy Women’s basketball team visited the Windy City in a showdown with the Big Ten Conference’s Northwestern Wildcats.
The goal was simple: return to Indianapolis with a victory. If successful, a win would be the third, all-time, for IU Indy against a Big Ten opponent.
The last time the visitors from Indianapolis beat a Big Ten school was in December of 2021. They shocked a nationally ranked, Caitlin Clark led Iowa squad in Iowa City. The 2021-2022 version of the Jaguars were playing for a different coach, with different players, under the name IUPUI.
After posting 16 total wins over the last two years, the new season presents a fresh opportunity for 4th year IU Indy head coach Kate Bruce to get her program headed in the right direction. A win on Nov. 3 against Indiana State was the start Bruce needed.
Would her team be able to follow it up with a win over the Wildcats in Evanston?
IU Indy started the game with three players – Sydney Bolden, Olivia Smith and Hailey Smith – who transferred over from last season’s Mid-American Conference champion Ball State Cardinal team. Bolden represented the Jaguars at Horizon League Media Day in Lucas Oil Stadium in early October. She scored the game’s first bucket on an assist from Hailey Smith. At the end of the first quarter, Northwestern held a 14-11 advantage. A Hailey Smith free throw at the 7:35 mark of the second quarter put IU Indy up 16-14.
It felt like the Wildcats firmly controlled the rest of the period. But Nevaeh Foster’s creative, left hand finish moments before the halftime buzzer capped a quick 4-0 Jaguar run to get them within 3 points at the half. Foster scored over 2,200 points in high school at Mishawaka Marian just outside of South Bend.
She continued IU Indy’s run to start the second half with an offensive rebound putback. A Hailey Smith jumper capped a 9-0 spurt dating back to the first half to put the team from Indy up by a point. The Wildcats would head into the final period ahead by 4. In the fourth period, Jaguar Redshirt Freshman Destini Craig went to work. Her free throw with 5:07 left in regulation cut the Northwestern lead to 55-54. She would get her 8th and 9th points of the quarter on a driving, contested layup with 19.3 seconds left to put IU Indy up 63-62.
Eight seconds later, Wildcat sharp shooter Xamiya Walton hit a dramatic three pointer, her 4th triple of the game, to put the home team ahead on the scoreboard 65-63.
Bruce’s Jaguars couldn’t get any closer. Northwestern walked off the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena with their first win of the season, a 67-64 victory over the team from Indianapolis.
The undersized Jaguars struggled on the glass. They were outrebounded by Northwestern 48-38. Wildcat bigs Grace Sullivan (18 rebounds) and Tayla Thomas (13 rebounds) combined for 31 of their team’s 48 boards. Despite their lack of size, IU Indy competed hard.
“First game, [against a] really well coached team. IU Indy came to play. Give them a lot of credit,” Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown said.
IU Indy (1-1) hosts Ball State at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9.
Austin Taylor is the executive director of The City League. For more news, click here.
