Editor’s note: Each week, WNUR Sports recaps the news and results from the in-season, non-revenue teams that we cover in order to help our listeners and readers stay connected to the pulse of Northwestern athletics. For football coverage, check out this week’s game recap HERE. Teams are discussed in alphabetical order.

By Eli Doroshow

Women’s Basketball:

11/29: LOSS vs. Pittsburgh

In a light scheduling week for Northwestern’s non-revenue teams, Joe McKeown’s Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers this past Thursday. Participating in the ACC/B1G Challenge, Northwestern fell 52-49 in a low-scoring affair to their Atlantic Coast Conference foe. Despite a strong effort by senior forward Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, who posted 16 points and 10 rebounds, the Wildcats couldn’t overcome a balanced scoring effort from Pittsburgh, who had three starters score in double digits.

The story of the night was Northwestern’s inability to convert on the offensive side of the ball. In addition to turning it over fifteen times, the Wildcats put up an abysmal 3-21 (14 percent) mark from beyond the arc and a season-low 15-57 (26 percent) mark from the field. Most notably, sophomore guard Lindsey Pulliam’s shooting woes continued, as she went just 4-18 from the field and 0-6 from three. Coming into the season, Pulliam’s ability to score with improved efficiency was in question following her first year in 2017-18. Pulliam is a supremely talented player who leads Northwestern in scoring this year with 16.0 points per game, but she is shooting just 34.3 percent from the field and only 15.8 percent from distance.

Despite the tough loss to Pittsburgh, the Wildcats sit comfortably at 5-1 on the year. Before Big Ten conference play tips off towards the end of December, Northwestern Women’s Basketball looks forward to difficult matchups with No. 20 DePaul on December 5 and No. 18 Marquette on December 9.