Big Ten Player Spotlight: Abi Scheid, Northwestern

ANN ARBOR, MI - FEBRUARY 08: Northwestern Wildcats forward Abi Scheid (44) goes in for a layup during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines on February 8, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.(Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - FEBRUARY 08: Northwestern Wildcats forward Abi Scheid (44) goes in for a layup during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines on February 8, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.(Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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A big week for Northwestern’s do-it-all leader.

As we leave 2018 and turn the page into 2019, our player of the week finished last year with one of the best games of her career and started the new year helping Northwestern win over a ranked Michigan State squad. This player grew up in frigid Minnesota but her game is anything but cold right now and she continues to show why she should start becoming a household name to any women’s basketball fan.

Her name is Abi Scheid, the 6’2 junior out of Elk River, Minnesota.

Throughout the 2018-19 season, Scheid’s minutes have been all over the place playing anywhere between 20 and 41 minutes on any given night. Recently, Joe McKeown has trusted Scheid with more minutes on the court, leading to higher production and Scheid’s best game of the year on Dec. 31. In the Wildcats 68-45 win over Illinois, Scheid led all scorers with 25 points, adding 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Her 25 points are a career high and the first time she has eclipsed 20 points in a game this season. She also played excellent defense in the win, helping to hold fellow Minnesotan Alex Wittinger to just seven points. Wittinger was a preseason first-team Big Ten Forward and is averaging 16.1 points per game this season.

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The more impressive win for Scheid and the Wildcats came four days later in a 70-62 win over No. 15 ranked Michigan State. Northwestern battled through Shay Colley’s 28-point performance, having three players—including Scheid—score in double figures. Scheid scored 13 points in the win to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. In both wins, Scheid only had one foul, allowing her to stay on the court for minutes that are valuable to Northwestern’s success.

As the Wildcats look to eclipse ten wins on the season, the Wolverines and Boilermakers will stand in their way. Northwestern travels to Ann Arbor on Jan. 8 for a 6 p.m. tipoff against Michigan before heading back to Evanston for a Jan. 13 game against an 11-5 Purdue team. The Wildcats don’t play another ranked team until Jan. 31 when the team hosts No. 12 Minnesota. The team travels to Minneapolis again on Feb. 10 in a game sure to have a lot of Elk River residents wearing red and black in the stands cheering on Scheid.

There is no doubt that she has earned it.