Don’t be fooled. The Northwestern women’s basketball team has nearly two more weeks until its first game, and everything before then is just practice.
That said, the Wildcats will face their first opponents of the year tonight at home as they take on the Chicago Challengers in an exhibition game.
NU, which went 4-23 overall last year and was winless in 16 Big Ten games, sees both this exhibition game and its Nov. 13 matchup against RTU Clondaika as practice, not actual games.
“We can gain a lot of confidence from playing well (tonight),” junior guard Emily Butler said. “But exhibition games are really more to work out the kinks than anything else.”
The Chicago Challengers are a group of ex-college players from the area. According to NU coach June Olkowski, the players are generally very good athletes who come together for games and have not spent much time practicing together.
The Cats will play the exhibition game without a set lineup, and Olkowski said she plans to give every player an opportunity to play. Olkowski indicated that the starters will be her upperclassmen — Butler, junior Leslie Dolland, senior Ashley Messenger, junior Natalie Will and sophomore Michelle Zylstra. Only freshman Samantha McComb and junior Nicole Daniels, both of whom are injured, will not see the floor.
NU will play man-to-man defense tonight, as the team has not worked on its zone offense or defense thus far.
“It’s a process,” Olkowski said of adding schemes. “You add things as you go, especially in the Big Ten.
“They know your offense as well as you do by the second time you play them — you want to be able to tweak it.”
The Cats undoubtedly will rely on leadership from Butler, who led the team in scoring last season, averaging 12.7 points per game. Butler was honorable mention All-Big Ten last year, and Olkowski said she improved over the summer.
“She is a very good athlete, and I think she has improved mentally,” Olkowski said. “Now she can let the game come to her because she is surrounded by a better complement of players.”
Butler, Dolland, and seniors Messenger and Bill
