Down 18 points with 11 minutes to play in its 88-65 loss Tuesday against Illinois, the Northwestern women’s basketball team needed a score on its next possession.
But the shots just wouldn’t fall. The Wildcats battled for three offensive rebounds during the play but came up empty when NU guard Ashley Messenger was stripped and Illinois recovered the loose ball.
It was all part of a frustrating second half for NU (4-10, 0-4 Big Ten), which managed 11 points in the first 10 minutes after halftime. Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini (7-8, 2-1) opened up a 20-point lead and cruised to victory.
“We were frustrated and we turned the ball over, and they got easy points in the paint,” NU coach June Olkowski said.
During that second-half sequence, Messenger was left wide open along the baseline and forward Michelle Zylstra found herself alone on the blocks for a moment — but neither got the ball before the defense adjusted.
After the third offensive rebound of the possession, Messenger tried to spin into the lane to create her own shot but lost the ball. That led to a breakaway layup by Illini guard Allison Curtin to give Illinois a 67-44 lead.
“We’re limited in that capacity,” Olkowski said of her team’s inability to run its offense against Illinois’ superior athleticism. “There are one or two of us that can make plays off the dribble.”
To be fair, Illinois came into Welsh-Ryan Arena on the heels of a 75-71 upset of No. 14 Penn State and is more talented than its sub-.500 record indicates.
But NU played the Illini close through the first 15 minutes of the game. Guard Emily Butler’s three-pointer with three minutes to play in the half cut the Illini lead to 35-29.
“We played as a team in the first half,” said NU guard Dana Leonard, who finished with 10 points. “We got down on ourselves when we cut (the lead) to eight and they went up 14, and we just hung our heads.
“We didn’t come out to play and we didn’t have fire in our eyes.”
Illinois coach Theresa Grentz said she preached stronger defense in the locker room to trigger her team’s second-half burst. Illinois forced 23 NU turnovers, which led to 18 fast-break points.
The Illini also collected 19 offensive rebounds and outscored NU 49-24 in the paint.
“We talked about that at halftime: how we wanted to play defense and how we wanted to pressure,” Grentz said.
Olkowski said NU “got crushed” by allowing Illinois two and three scoring chances per possession on offense. She said the Cats’ second-half performance suggested they “have to work on the little things” — fundamentals and rebounding.
“The setback is in the second half and how they controlled the boards,” Olkowski said.
Freshman center Brenda Blackburn’s jumper in the lane with two minutes to play gave Illinois a 29-point lead, its biggest of the game.
NU, notorious for its slow starts, watched helplessly as the Illini forced two turnovers to begin the second half and dominated until the final buzzer sounded.
Olkowski said her team has no choice but to improve.
“I called home (after a loss to Ohio State) looking for sympathy, and I didn’t get any,” she said. “If you fall off your horse, you have two options: You can walk your horse … or you can dust yourself off and get back on.”
