Northwestern won both of its dual meets this weekend, taking down Duke 20-7 and North Carolina 19-8. Four Wildcats were undefeated against North Carolina, and three fencers were perfect against Duke.
Grade: A
Lacrosse
No. 5 Northwestern started off the season with a 12-11 overtime win against USC in Los Angeles. The Wildcats came back from a 7-0 deficit, scoring three of their eight second-half goals in the last eight minutes. Four Northwestern players scored, including five goals from freshman Kara Mupo and four goals from freshman Selena Lasota, who had the winning goal in overtime.
Grade: Coming back from seven down, tying the game in the last minute and then winning in overtime in the first game of the season? A+
Cross Country
Northwestern’s weekend at the 2015 Meyo Invitational in South Bend was highlighted by performances from junior Rachel Weathered, who broke the five-minute mark while winning her one-mile heat, and sophomore Andrea Ostenso, who placed fourth in the 5,000-meter race while breaking the school record in the event. Sophomore Jena Pianin placed tenth in the 3,000-meter race.
Grade: A couple of top-10 finishes and a broken school record make for a pretty good weekend. B+
Men’s Tennis
Northwestern lost a close matchup against No. 14 Notre Dame by a score of 4-3 in South Bend this past weekend. Notre Dame, with the No. 8 and No. 9 doubles squads in the country, won two of three doubles matchups. No. 108-ranked sophomore Strong Kirchheimer upset No. 82 Josh Hagar in singles, where the Wildcats went 3-3.
Grade: A close matchup, but Notre Dame having two of the top 10 doubles squad in the country made it near impossible for a NU win. B
Men’s Basketball
Wisconsin made five more threes and hit six more free throws than Northwestern in the Wildcats' 65-50 loss to the Badgers in Madison. Alex Olah led the team with 15 points. While neither side shot more than 40 percent from the field, Wisconsin outrebounded the 'Cats 39 to 25 and Northwestern committed 20 personal fouls to the Badgers' 12.
Northwestern is now 1-9 in Big Ten play.
Grade: It was a sloppy game, and Northwestern was the sloppier team. But the Wildcats refused to get blown out like they were in Evanston. C+
Women’s Basketball
After a 64-58 win over Illinois, the Wildcats are on a three-game win streak and are now tied for fifth in the Big Ten. Sophomore Nia Coffey, sophomore Ashley Deary and junior Maggie Lyon all scored in double digits. Northwestern was able to capitalize on 22 Illini fouls to go 14-of-20 at the free throw line, including six makes in the last minute of the game, sealing the win for the Wildcats.
Grade: A