Women’s College Basketball: Minnesota at Northwestern

As Nicole and I have done for Northwestern men’s basketball games this season, we drove to campus today. However, the Northwestern women’s basketball team was home rather than the men’s team. I dropped Nicole off at the Sociology department and drove to Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Obtaining Tickets
I had a free ticket for the game since it was included in my men’s basketball season ticket package. With men’s basketball season tickets, I received one free ticket for a women’s game.

The Game
Northwestern squeaked out a victory over Minnesota 61-60 as Brittany Orban missed the first of two free throws but made the second to give Northwestern a one-point lead with four seconds left (this was after missing 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 60 apiece). Rather than Minnesota calling a timeout to make a play with four seconds left, they ran the court as Kiara Buford missed the last second shot attempt that would have given Minnesota the win.

Halftime Show
Northwestern hired Red Panda for their halftime show. Red Panda is the Asian woman who flips bowls from her foot onto her head while riding a unicycle (appears to be 10 feet high). I have seen her several times at NBA game (mainly the Chicago Bulls), so I was surprised to see her at the halftime show of the Northwestern women’s basketball game – it does not seem to make financial sense for a women’s basketball game.

In what must have been a first, she missed the four-bowl flip on her first try. She must have been distracted since Willie the Wildcat was tossing her the bowls.

Post Game Dining
After a few hours in the department we ate dinner at Addis Abeba – an Ethiopian restaurant located at 1322 Chicago Ave. in Evanston, IL.

WCBK: Chicago St. at Northwestern

After waiting for an hour between the men’s and women’s games, the Northwestern women’s team took the court. Although expected, it was amazing to see there were only 567 people (according to nusports.com) who stuck around for the women’s game even though it was free. 5,098 attended the men’s game versus Stanford.

The Game
Northwestern jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back defeating Chicago St. 85-64. Amy Jaeschke scored 29 points for the Wildcats, while Brittany Orban scored 20. It was the first time since January 18, 2006 that two Wildcats scored 20 points in the same game.