No. 24 Northwestern women top No. 23 Rutgers 62-57

Mar 6, 2015, 05:31 pm

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Maggie Lyon led five players in double figures with 15 points and No. 24 Northwestern beat No. 23 Rutgers 62-57 on Friday in the Big Ten tournament.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats (23-7) will face No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Maryland (28-2) on Saturday in the semifinals.

Nia Coffey, Alex Cohen and Ashley Deary all had 12 points and Lauren Douglas added 10 for Northwestern.

Fifth-seeded Rutgers (22-9) jumped out to a 12-4 lead over the first nine minutes as Northwestern missed eight of its first 10 shots. The first-half lead reached 15, but the Wildcats used a 12-2 run late to trim the deficit to 37-27 at the break.

The streak continued in the second half, as Northwestern opened on a 21-4 run to lead 48-41.

Rutgers drew back to within six on Cynthia Hernandez' 3-pointer with 9:07 left, but then went over 7 1/2 minutes with just one field goal.

Kahleah Copper led Rutgers with 14 points.