All season the Northwestern women’s basketball team has measured its progress in steps – coach June Olkowski said a 74-59 loss at Michigan on Jan. 28 was “a major step forward”; a 70-35 defeat to Wisconsin on Feb. 1 was “a step backward.”

The Wildcats (4-17, 0-11 Big Ten) played the best game of their conference season Sunday in a 65-62 loss to No. 16 Penn State (16-6, 8-3), a giant leap forward, in NU terminology.

So although the Cats lost the lead – and the game – in the final minutes, they once again forged ahead. But not far enough for a win.

The loss may have been more of a sidestep: The Cats coupled flashes of brilliance with the same agonizing mistakes that had lost them all 10 of their conference games before Sunday.

With guard Emily Butler’s acrobatic driving layups came costly turnovers. With forward Michelle Zylstra’s timely three-pointers came untimely misses down the stretch. And with the Cats’ hustle – NU tied up the Lady Lions for six jump balls in the contest – came crippling misses from the free throw line.

How else to describe the conflicting emotions Olkowski and her team showed after the game, having played some of its finest basketball but letting inexperience obstruct the path to its first conference win?

For all the hustle they showed on defense and the discipline and selflessness they showed on offense, the Cats could not convert at the foul line. Center Leslie Dolland missed all seven of her foul shots, and guard Natalie Will and forward Bill