The end of the first quarter may have called for panic. Maybe because of last year’s notorious Final Four loss. Maybe because Northwestern hasn’t made it to the NCAA Championship since 2012. Maybe because it was 4-2 Denver, and the ‘Cats hadn’t scored in 10 minutes. But then the ‘Cats came back to life in the second quarter, and the Pioneers never stood a chance.
For nearly six minutes into the second quarter, the two teams traded possessions before Izzy Scane notched her first goal of the game. Hailey Rhatigan fired away less than a minute later to tie the score at four.