Can I share a sentence from the official Northwestern preview of this game that I found whilst pulling up the streaming and live stats links for this game?

The matchup has the makings of an elite attacking duel, as the Wildcats (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) boast the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense (18 goals per game), while the Golden Eagles (3-0, 0-0 Big East) have an NCAA-best 18.67 goals per game.

I did not know that! I checked the NCAA stat page on Thursday while writing this preview, and yep, there’s Marquette, most prolific scoring offense in the country, with Northwestern and George Washington tied for second. GW has only played two games to get to 18 per game, so we’ll trust NU’s offense as slightly more reliable for the moment. I like the idea that a national powerhouse is happy to point out a Small Sample Size Theater stat to point out something that makes their opponent dangerous. It’s like Ric Flair telling Tony Schiavone that he knows that Sting is fast and strong and athletic, and he’s gonna be a heck of a challenge on Saturday night at The Omni.

I checked the individual stats, because obviously, right? Tess Osburn is tied for the 11th best goals per game mark in the country right now at 4.33/game. Dani Serrano’s 2.33 assists/game have her tied for 39th best in the country. The pair are deadlocked at 5.67 points/game right now, and that’s 15th best in the country. Hanna Bodner is slacking off at “only” averaging a hat trick per game through three contests, and Ella Mautz is one point shy of joining Serrano as Marquette freshmen averaging at least three points per game. Mautz might have gotten slowed down on that merely by not being in the starting lineup so far this season.

Y’all want to talk about scoring defense for a second? Marquette is tied for 31st in the country with 8.33 goals allowed per game. Not too bad with 121 teams in the country. They’re also #37 in the country in Defensive Efficiency according to Lacrosse Reference. Not too bad.

The question that we — and head coach Meredith Black — has to ask is how much of that is schedule based. If you asked me before the season, I would have said that the Golden Eagles could and perhaps should be 3-0 heading into the Northwestern game, and that’s where they are. However, junior goalie Mikayla Yang has stopped just four of the 20 shots on frame against her to this point of the season. This hasn’t been much of a problem for the Golden Eagles, as they were leading 17-7, 9-4, and 7-5 when Yang gave way to Jillian Howell at halftime of each of those games. We could argue that Howell’s .654 save percentage, all in second halves this season, is propped up by Marquette pushing their advantage in the second half, and double digit leads has made it easier for Howell to not give up goals as time goes on to get to a goals-against average of 6.00 through 90 minutes of play.

In the last two games, Howell is a perfect 5-for-5 in saves relative to shots on goal in the third quarter, and as you can see from the 9-4 and 7-5 margins when she took over the cage, both opponents clearly had a reason to be trying to win a game that was within reach in those 15 minute periods. Is that enough to pull the trigger on going to Howell against a Northwestern offense that is clearly going to test Marquette’s defense more than they have been tested to this point of the year? Or is the move to give the cage to Yang one more time to see what happens in her biggest trial of the season?

Game #4: at #5 Northwestern Wildcats (3-1)

Date: Friday, February 20, 2026
Time: 7pm Central
Location: Ryan Fieldhouse, Evanston, Illinois
Streaming: B1G+, which does mean you’re going to have to drop $13 for a month of access.
Live Stats:Stat Broadcast

Marquette is 0-10 all time against Northwestern. The two squads met for the first time in 2014, which was Marquette’s second season as a Division 1 squad. After that 20-5 first meeting, MU did throw a scare or two into the Wildcats even though they’ve never been ranked lower than #14 for any of these games. Things have gotten a little bit lopsided in the last few meetings, including 21-3 the last time they played in Evanston and 19-9 last year in Milwaukee.

The good news for Marquette is that (hopefully) Northwestern has gotten their frustration out of their system. After opening the year with a 20-12 road win over #3 Boston College, the Wildcats flubbed their home opener, falling 10-9 to Colorado. They gave up the first three goals of the game, eventually built an 8-6 lead with six minutes left in the third quarter…. and then got outscored 4-1 in the fourth quarter and lost. Colorado took more shots in the game, which led to more shots on goal and the Buffaloes won both the turnover and ground ball battles, thus rendering Northwestern’s 17-4 edge on draws mostly useless.

As for where the frustration about that game went? Five days later, the Wildcats stomped #20 Army, 18-7, and then to really draw the point into relief, they beat Central Michigan 25-2. That’s the same CMU team that Marquette beat 19-6 after adjusting the Chippewas out of the game in the second half. Maybe they’ve worked out their energy now.

Taylor Madison led Northwestern with five goals against CMU, and that has her way out in front of the pack on the stat sheet. Madison is the Wildcats’ leading goal scorer with 19 on the year, and her team high 10 assists mean that she has more than twice as many points as anyone else on the roster. Aditi Foster is NU’s only other double digit goal scorer through four games, and the sophomore from Philadelphia has 12 on 28 shots. Madison set the NCAA record for goals in a season last year, but you can win even if you don’t slow her down. She had six of Northwestern’s nine goals against Colorado, and she “only” took nine shots to get there. Still, it would seem like trying to get the ball somewhere else is a more reliable idea on the defensive end.

Jenika Cuocco is Northwestern’s starter in net, racking up 195 minutes so far this season as her backups carried the game home after an 8-0 first quarter lead and a 21-1 shot advantage against Central Michigan. The Drexel transfer is allowing just 8.92 goals per 60 minutes this season and is stopping 54.7% of shots on frame. She had 11 saves in the Colorado game, so it would very much seem like Northwestern’s problem in that contest was not her.

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Former Bellator bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis will take on Mitch McKee in the main event of PFL’s upcoming show in Chicago on April 11, the promotion announced Thursday. Jordan Newman vs. Josh Silveira serves as the co-headliner at the Wintrust Arena.

The event will air on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes and go head to head with UFC 327, which takes place on the same day in Miami. The UFC has yet to announce the main event attraction for the numbered show on Paramount+.

Pettis won back-to-back fights since joining the PFL in 2025, winning a decision over Raufeon Stots before stopping Magomed Magomedov with a knockout of the year contender this past October. Pettis, who went 9-5 in the UFC mostly as a flyweight, now holds a pro record of 25-7 that includes Bellator title defenses over Patricio Pitbull and Kyoji Horiguchi.

McKee is undefeated in 10 professional bouts between 2021 and 2022, including a sole appearance under the Bellator banner to beat Tony Ortega via second-round TKO back in 2022. The 28-year-old “Merciless” went 8-0 inside the LFA cage with five knockouts to his credit.

Silveira (15-5), son of ATT head coach Conan Silveira, is a former two-division LFA champion who re-enters the PFL cage after winning a middleweight decision over Murad Ramazanov in August. Newman (8-0), his opponent, is a three-time NCAA Division III All-American wrestler who built his entire career in the Bellator cage prior to his successful PFL debut in August, when he stopped Eslam Abdul Baset.

Last week, I asked our Phinsider faithful the following:

In the NFL, where the rules and the game in general are now geared toward a higher rate of offensive production and, in turn, higher scoring, why are NFL Championships still won on the backs of dominant defenses?

Below are some of your thoughts and answers-

UpInPensacola points out an issue our Dolphins have had over the last few seasons, which may have cost the team games or, at times, made winning much more difficult.

Reducing pre-snap penalties will help.

On both sides.

My least favorites are “Lining up in the neutral zone” and “Illegal formation”.

finfanfromsiam said some stuff…

Simple- ball goes to offensive player and defensive player smash!!!

madcitydave believes that it’s all about where you get that hair trimmed.

Like minded coaches and GM that utilize the same barber.

finfanfromsiam chimes in again, suggesting that Goodell should just give it up already.

I don’t care how much Goofell tries to push this offense rhetoric, defense will always be what wins SBs. Until they wear this……which isn’t far off btw….

MiamiItaliano says it all comes down to the great defenses throwing the quarterback off schedule. Truth! A strong pass rush and a solid secondary go a long, long way in the NFL!

Defense wins championships because great defenses throw any QB off their rhythm. If QBs can’t 3 step drop, find their primary target, run for their lives avoiding a sack, etc., then they panic. Today’s NFL offense goes through the QB and when the QB can’t perform, it’s usually game over for that team.

PhinsTifosi points out that if Ross wants a full stadium, then show that you can compete for the big prize.

Bear Bryant – O sells tickets. D wins championships.

PhinsTifosi – Championships sell tickets.

JUK seconds my thoughts on pass rush and secondary!

It’s pretty simple. Playoff football has tougher conditions and better opponents. The rule changes have made it easier for good offenses to put up points on bad teams, but if you can generate pressure and avoid coverage busts that always plays

Urthling believes that the team concept of some solid defenses can disrupt a given offensive scheme.

I have a theory:

I think a dominant offense usually revolves around a particular scheme. I think a dominant defense tends to be driven by gritty players playing as a team.

An offensive scheme can be disrupted by a dominant defense (pressure, physicality, taking away top option), but a defensive “team” mindset on a team of tough players is harder to disrupt.

This gives defense the advantage and makes it “more consistently” able to defeat dominant offenses.

sdphinsfan says limit the scoring!

When you get to the playoffs, you generally have the best playing the best. In that scenario, teams that are the healthiest and most complete on both sides of the ball rise to the top. But the real differentiator is a team’s ability to limit another team from scoring. If you’re opponent can’t score, and you can be efficient and not turn it over, chances are you’re gonna win…

JKBMia says the key is pressuring the QB with four defenders.

Pressure with 4

That’s our selection of answers for this evening. Thank you, as always, for taking the time to visit our question of the night post and contributing to the post. Please join us for our Victory Of The Week Post tomorrow night.

Stephen Curry has missed five games for the Golden State Warriors due to a knee issue. He’s now guaranteed to miss at least five more.

The Warriors have ruled out the former MVP for the next 10 days, at which point he will be re-evaluated according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. An MRI reportedly came back clean Thursday, but the pain and swelling has persisted.

Sitting out Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics means Curry will have missed 17 games this season. His next missed game will make him ineligible for the NBA’s regular season awards, breaking a five-year streak of All-NBA teams.

This article will be updated with more information.

Stephen Curry has missed five games for the Golden State Warriors due to a knee issue. He’s now guaranteed to miss at least five more.

The Warriors have ruled out the former MVP for the next 10 days, at which point he will be re-evaluated according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. An MRI reportedly came back clean Thursday, but the pain and swelling has persisted.

Sitting out Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics means Curry will have missed 17 games this season. His next missed game will make him ineligible for the NBA’s regular season awards, breaking a five-year streak of All-NBA teams.

This article will be updated with more information.

The Lakers had just completed practice Thursday with a full and healthy squad when Luka Doncic strolled over to speak with the media.

Doncic had played only five minutes Sunday for Team World in the All-Star Game because of a lingering left hamstring strain. He had missed the previous four Lakers games.

With the Lakers scheduled to start the post-All-Star break against the Clippers on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, Doncic was asked if he was playing in that game.

“Probably,” he said. “We’ll see. I got to talk to people.”

Since Doncic did practice, he was asked how he was doing and how his hamstring felt.

“I’m good,” he said. “Feeling good.”

But, Doncic was told, he did play in the All-Star Game, even if it was limited time.

“Five minutes. I was on minutes restriction,” Doncic joked.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was the first to speak to the media after practice, his time away from the game leaving him fresh and ready to go.

He was asked if Austin Reaves, who had been on a restriction of about 25 minutes after returning from a 19-game because of a left calf strain, would still be on a minutes restriction and if Doncic would be available for the game against the Clippers.

“Austin won’t have a minutes restriction,” Redick said, “and as of 35 to 45 seconds ago, we’ll have everybody available tomorrow.”

Injuries have been a common thread for the Lakers this season.

It started at the beginning of the season, when LeBron James missed 14 games because of sciatica. He has recently dealt with left foot arthritis that kept him out of a game.

Center Deandre Ayton missed the last two games with right knee soreness.

“Well, there’s only so much you can control. I mean, you know, as a coach, you have zero control in that. As a player, you know what you do to prepare, and what you do to recover can give you some level of control, but ultimately, the basketball Gods in the game are going to dictate health,” Redick said. “It’s funny, we were talking before the season about building continuity with those three guys, and we’ve had them available together for 10 games. So it’s just the situation we’re in.

“Not the only team that has had a bunch of health issues throughout the season and had to manage that. But I think … my messaging this morning to the players was this is going to be a sprint, these last 28 games. It’s another segment of the season where, starting tomorrow, we won’t have more than a day between games until the end of March. So, we’ve got an opportunity to, I think, play our best basketball after the All-Star break. We’ve got a number of indicators on both sides of the ball that we’re doing some things that are trending in the right direction. And I think it’s coming at a good time, as we’re getting fully healthy.”

Doncic, James and Reaves have played just 10 games together because of health issues.

As a trio, they have combined to average 80.2 points per game, led by Doncic’s NBA-best 32.8 points per game. Reaves is averaging 25.4 points and James 22.0.

Reaves said it is “very important” that the three of them get reps together.

“You have those games from last year, but obviously you still have a learning curve of how to play alongside one another and that’s with everybody else on the team as well,” Reaves said. “Continuing to build that continuity and confidence in every single position. We’re locked in with the five guys on the court. So, very excited.

Read more:Luka Doncic and LeBron James agree on the most important factor for the Lakers going forward

“I think you can tell throughout the season, even with the unfortunate injuries and stuff, we’ve done a good job of maintaining it. We’re fifth in the West, on pace for a good record and just getting healthy is going to continue to help that. So it’ll be fun to see what that looks like and get to work.”

The Lakers

play four games next week, all against opponents with winning records that are jockeying for position in the playoff race.

So, Thursday’s practice was a good start for the Lakers to get back in gear.

“We only got one practice in so we’re not going to get a lot out of one practice,” Doncic said. “But we definitely like to get up and down a little bit after one week off. So, it was good.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The battle for the final spot in the starting rotation of the Cincinnati Reds is already underway. With pitchers and catchers having congregated in Goodyear, Arizona over a week ago to begin their annual spring revival, the likes of Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, and Julian Aguiar all showed up healthy – finally – and ready to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

As Mark Sheldon of Reds.com relayed from camp, the competition is already chugging along in earnest, with the likes of Dane Myers and Terry Francona already impressed with what they’ve seen from the group in camp.

Of note in Sheldon’s latest notes is that it will be Burns on the bump for the Reds when they open Cactus League play on Saturday afternoon against their complex rivals from Cleveland.

That’s not an indication that Burns is necessarily ahead of the other trio on the pecking order, per se, even though that would appear to be the case on paper for the time being. Burns, of course, finished last year healthy (despite a mid-season forearm shutdown), and his arsenal when clicking is perhaps as good as any pitcher on the planet right now. Still, there’s a ton to be said from Lowder, Williamson, and even Aguiar before all is said and done, as each of that trio has impressed at lower stops and made their mark at the big league level when healthy too.

Saturday’s Cactus League opener is slated for a 3:05 PM ET start time and will stream for free via MLB.tv.