For 3:10 of Thursday night’s game, Northwestern warped back in time to last January, when it kept pace with Iowa for 40 minutes and pulled out a thrilling 53-52 victory.
The Wildcats played stifling defense, ran the floor with ease and scored eight quick points, bringing a rare smile to NU coach June Olkowski’s face as Iowa frantically called time out. Facing a Hawkeyes team mirroring that of 1999-2000, NU appeared to have finally burst the bubble trapping its potential.
Then reality set in.
It was the Cats’ reality of countless injuries, missed scoring opportunities and a nonexistent perimeter offense that has plagued them throughout their disappointing season. Facing an Iowa team it downed twice last year, NU (4-14, 0-8 Big Ten) was squashed 92-52 in front of just 735 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Even in the same setting and with most of last year’s team back, the Cats couldn’t repeat past performances against Iowa (10-8, 5-3), losing for the 12th time in 13 games.
“I think they’re doing a really good job facing what they faced with all the injuries,” said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, trying to hide a satisfied smile. “Northwestern being so banged up, mentally that’s tough, that’s draining on you. When you have that many injuries you can never get into the rhythm of anything.”
Following NU’s early 8-2 burst, Iowa unleashed its punishing perimeter game, nailing five of five three-pointers to snatch a 46-29 halftime advantage. Led by senior guard Mary Berdo, who tallied five three-pointers in the game, the Hawkeyes catapulted themselves into the winner’s circle for the fourth time in their past five games.
“They are a great three-point shooting team, probably one of the best in the Big Ten,” forward Tami Sears said. “We knew that coming in, but they shot the lights out.”
Iowa used first-half runs of 12-2 and 23-11 to wear out the Cats, who came out of the blocks pressuring the ball on defense and forcing steals in the lane. Before it sunk into a 40-point deficit, NU played with an aggressive style rarely seen in the past four games.
“We had a great warmup and came out with intensity,” Sears said. “We knew we had nothing to lose. But the problem with us through the years is that we make a couple of mistakes, and our heads go down, and things fall apart.”
Iowa used instant offense to grab the momentum midway through the first half. The Hawkeyes’ impressive court speed dominated the transition game, allowing long-range bombers such as Berdo and forward Leah Magner to camp out for kick-out passes.
A stark contrast from their 25 percent three-point output last year in Evanston, Iowa shot an astonishing 82 percent from the perimeter.
While the Cats scrambled to alter shots, the Hawkeyes found their comfort zone behind the arc.
Meanwhile, Iowa completely sealed off NU’s perimeter game, limiting it to only 12.5 percent three-point shooting. Dana Leonard’s three-pointer with 7:44 remaining was the Cats’ first triple of the game.
“If you look at our perimeter, we give up 5 to 6 inches at every position,” Olkowski said. “So the ball pressure that we can put on and the ball pressure they can put on are two different things.”
Although the Cats have shown few outward signs of frustration in their recent spell, Sears let out a resounding “Let’s go!” to her teammates while they huddled before two Hawkeyes free throws midway through the second half.
Then, with Iowa leading 90-46 late in the game, Olkowski called all five players to the bench, giving a quick pep talk to get them through the final few minutes.
The Cats travel to Ann Arbor on Sunday to take on Michigan, which dealt them a drubbing Jan. 18 in Evanston. It was one of the Cats’ six blowout losses in this dismal conference season, but NU players still see a turnaround in the distance.
“We don’t know if it’s going to pay off this weekend, or in our last game in the Big Ten tournament, but it will eventually pay off,” center Leslie Dolland said. “If we realize that as a team, we’ll make some good things happen. … No team’s going to lay down for Northwestern.”
