Northwestern (7-10, 1-5 B1G) snapped its 10-game losing streak with a 73-54 win over Rutgers (8-9, 0-6 B1G) at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday, recording its first Big Ten victory of the 2025-26 season.

Despite a subpar opening ten minutes, Northwestern had a second-quarter resurgence led by Grace Sullivan, Casey Harter and Caroline Lau that allowed it to outscore Rutgers 24-12. Once the Wildcats grabbed the lead with four minutes to go in the first half, they didn’t let it slip for the remainder of the game.

Casey Harter led the ‘Cats in scoring with 21 points, with Grace Sullivan trailing not far behind with 20 of her own. Caroline Lau fought for a triple-double but fell just short of the mark with 12 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds on the day. Lau’s 16 assists tied Nancy Kennelly’s Northwestern single-game assists record.

For the Scarlet Knights, Faith Blackstone and Lauryn Swann shared the points trophy with 11 each. They were closely followed by Nene Ndiaye and Zachara Perkins, who each had 10. Antonia Bates led RU in rebounds with nine.

Rutgers won the opening tip, and after an exchange of possessions between the two teams, Faith Blackstone capitalized twice for easy layups. An uncharacteristic turnover from Sullivan led to a foul on Nene Ndiaye, who sank her free throws to put the Scarlet Knights up 6-0 just 90 seconds into the game. Lau picked up the slack on the NU offensive, creating chances for both Harter and Sullivan, who put the ‘Cats on the board. Imani Lester made a triple for Rutgers, but Harter responded with a basket of her own.

An offensive foul from Northwestern helped Zachara Perkins add four points for the Scarlet Knights. Harter and Sullivan, however, continued to fight back, and the duo helped reduce NU’s point deficit to three. At the first media timeout, Northwestern was down 13-10.

After the stoppage, Perkins immediately knocked down a jumper uncontested by the Wildcats. Kaylah Ivey added to the Scarlet Knights’ tally off a Northwestern turnover, and the ‘Cats found themselves again down 17-11. A series of turnovers and possessions saw the score remain at a standstill for around a minute and a half until Sullivan broke the deadlock with a layup on the fast break.

For Rutgers, Ndiaye continued to benefit from her free throws and made another two to put Rutgers up 19-13. An and-one call for Daija Turner promised the ‘Cats another chance to climb out of their scoring deficit, but her free throw didn’t land. The first quarter finished with the Scarlet Knights holding a 19-15 advantage.

The beginning of the second quarter saw the Wildcats’ free-throw woes continue as Turner made only one of her two available shots. Perkins made a layup that pushed the game to 21-16 Rutgers. Tayla Thomas netted her first two points of the night, but was quickly met by a court-long drive by Lauryn Swann with 7:50 to go in the quarter. Sullivan and Swann traded baskets, with Swann hitting an impressive triple from the corner.

First-year Amparo López checked into the game, and she immediately brought energy on both sides of the court for the ‘Cats. A series of signature passes around the key for Northwestern led to Harter hitting her signature three-pointer, and NU’s high press on the next play forced Swann to release a triple right before the shot clock sounded.

López continued her work on the offensive, hitting a nice corner three (the first of her career) under pressure to push the game to 29-27 Rutgers. Sullivan turned around a jumper in the paint, tying the game at 29-29 for the ‘Cats with just under five minutes to go in the half. After a tough foul, Harter shot 2-for-2 to give Northwestern the lead for the first time in the game. Following Harter’s free throws, the ‘Cats went on a 6-0 run. Perkins broke the five-minute-long scoring drought for the Scarlet Knights with a layup, but a response from Thomas kept NU’s advantage at 8 points. Northwestern finished an explosive second quarter up 39-31.

After being down in the first quarter, Northwestern outscored Rutgers 24-12 in the second quarter. Sullivan and Harter led the scoring for the ‘Cats in the first half, with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Perkins supplied 10 points for the Scarlet Knights. Caroline Lau continued to show her form as the NCAA assists per-game leader, with eight assists across the half.

Harter opened the second half with two free throws for Northwestern. After a minute of scoreless play, Ndiaye reciprocated with two points of her own, but the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run to take a double-digit lead. Sullivan, Harter and Lau contributed with scores. Blackstone went 1-for-2 on the line for the Scarlet Knights to push the score to 47-34 Northwestern.

Going 4-for-6, the Scarlet Knights continued to capitalize on free throws. For nearly four minutes, neither team scored out of open play until Lau found Thomas for a layup with 3:20 left in the third quarter. Scores from Harter and Sullivan gave Northwestern a 15-point advantage, but Ndiaye responded with a double of her own. Lau finished the third quarter in style with a three-point buzzer beater. The ‘Cats led 57-41.

Swann drained a jumper to start the fourth quarter for Rutgers, but a chaotic series of fouls over the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter allowed the open-play point curse to continue. Lau and Harter combined for four points on the line for Northwestern, while Lester contributed to Rutgers’ tally. Harter broke the field goal drought with a three-pointer, bringing the score to 64-45. Turner and Thomas pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 21, but Lester at the line knocked down their advantage to 20.

Out of the media timeout, Ndiaye and Blackstone continued to show up at the line for Rutgers. Yet, the Scarlet Knights remained helpless in their field goal conversion. Their drought lasted for seven minutes until Blackstone made a second-chance layup with 1:46 to go. Northwestern, on the other hand, benefited from Sullivan and Lau to push the score to 71-51. Northwestern and Rutgers notched 2 and 3 points off free throws in the final 40 seconds of the game, respectively. Northwestern finished the game with a 73-54, earning its first win of the 2025-26 B1G season.

Northwestern will next play on Thursday, Jan. 15, against Wisconsin. The game is slated for 7:00 p.m. on B1G+.