Against a team which usually has four capable shooters on the floor at any given time, the ‘Cats were put up to a tough task, and their defensive effort just couldn’t get it done. Notre Dame capitalized on these mistakes, shooting 45% (9-for-20) on the night. The most pressing issue on the defensive side of things for Northwestern was clearly an inability to get to open shooters in time to contest and seriously affect their shots. Three-point defense desperately needs improvement It’s a long season, but Northwestern will have plenty to learn from its first major test of their 2023-24 campaign as they try to improve on their 9-21 record from the year before. Northwestern’s scoring woes continued in the third and fourth quarters, where they experienced a drought lasting nearly six minutes and couldn’t manage to put the ball in the basket. 16 Notre Dame until about midway through the second quarter, when the Fighting Irish offense exploded, going on a 20-5 run to close the half. Suffice to say, last night’s blowout loss was not the greatest performance from the Northwestern women’s basketball team.
