For seven weeks the Northwestern women’s basketball team has been trying to generate a magic formula to carry it though 40 minutes of Big Ten basketball. The potion has fizzled, overflowed the test tube and exploded in the Wildcats’ faces several times – but on Jan. 7, against Ohio State, it nearly worked.
Fueled by the return of guard Dana Leonard to the starting lineup, NU stormed to a 38-28 halftime lead before Ohio State rallied to win 66-61. Leonard tallied 19 points, and guard Emily Butler dished out a career-high nine assists in one of NU’s best games of the year.
But as they seek retribution against the Buckeyes on Wednesday night in Columbus, the Cats (4-20, 0-14 Big Ten) take few positives from the teams’ first meeting.
“They killed us on transition buckets and rebounding, things we are in control of,” NU center Leslie Dolland said. “They were not making great basketball plays – they were just doing the basic things. So we need to block out, we need to make sure we rebound, and we must pick it up in the transition game.”
Although Dolland scored 13 points against Ohio State (15-9, 5-9), she was overmatched in the paint by forward D’wan Shackleford, who pulled down 17 boards and netted 15 points. With four Buckeyes players 6-foot-2 or taller, the Cats will yet again face size disadvantages in the paint.
“Sometimes we’re outmanned and we could give 100 percent effort, but it still may not look like that,” coach June Olkowski said. “Only we would know.”
NU’s biggest challenge will be containing Ohio State point guard Jamie Lewis, who is second in the Big Ten and fourth in the nation with 8.2 assists per game. Lewis totaled five assists and 12 points against the Cats in January.
Guarding Lewis will be nothing new for Leonard, who faced her several times in AAU basketball when the two attended grade school.
“It’s not a rivalry, but I’ve played against this kid since the fifth grade,” Leonard said. “I know she’s a good player, and if you can shut her down, you can stop their offense.”
The Cats spent much of Tuesday night’s practice working on lateral movement and perimeter defense in preparation for Lewis and the Buckeyes. But for NU to notch that elusive first conference win, it will need to maintain its stamina for 40 minutes.
Several times this season the Cats have outplayed opponents for 20 or 30 minutes, then collapsed down the stretch.
First it was Ohio State’s second-half surge. Then NU took a slim lead into the second half against No. 16 Penn State, but fell in the final minute. The Cats were tied at halftime Thursday against Michigan State, then fouled themselves out of a win.
“We’ve tried to break the game up into five-minute increments and to think about what we want to accomplish in five minutes,” Dolland said. “A couple baskets, a couple deflections – if we think about in terms like that, it makes the game much easier.”
With only two more chances to avoid a winless Big Ten campaign, NU players will try to salvage their pride in the season’s final week. The losing streak has weighed heavily on the Cats, especially on seniors like Leonard.
“The last couple games, we walked off the court and we couldn’t keep our heads up high – and we didn’t deserve to,” she said. “We have to play with pride and passion. We know we can hang with this team and beat this team. I can’t guarantee a victory, but we’re going to be pretty damn close if we do what we have to do.”
