The Northwestern women’s basketball team started five upperclassmen in Monday night’s 79-57 victory over the Chicago Challengers, but the freshman class made plenty of news as well.
First-year guard Melissa Culver showed flashes of brilliance in her 23 minutes of playing time, scoring 12 points in shooting 4 of 5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the foul line. She also had six assists and five steals in front of a Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd of about 100.
“(Culver) did a nice job,” Olkowski said. “I liked the tempo she brought offensively and defensively.”
Although Culver showed her youth by making defensive errors and straying from the set offense, she showed the potential to be a starter for the Wildcats.
“It was good for the little kids to get some of the nerves out of their system,” sophomore forward Michelle Zylstra said of NU’s freshmen. “They played very well for their first showing.”
The Cats are a young team – their roster includes six freshmen – and they are especially young at the center position. Junior Leslie Dolland is the only veteran in the post, and she picked up two quick fouls in the first half.
Freshman center Sarah Kwasinski came in for Dolland and was injured in her first minute of play. After getting tangled up under the net, Kwasinski, NU’s highly recruited 6-foot-4 high school standout from Oak Park, Ill., injured her left ankle and was in tears as she was helped off the court. She watched the remainder of the game from the bench.
“We’re hoping it’s a sprain,” Olkowski said. “She’ll have X-rays tomorrow to be sure.”
Freshman center Suzanne Morrison played for 20 minutes, and despite early jitters that included two quick turnovers, she ultimately performed well, scoring 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting and grabbing four rebounds.
“The freshman class has great talent,” Culver said. “It’s a good combination of classes. Sarah (Kwasinski) is going to be a huge factor on our team, and I think we are going to be tough – or at least tougher – to beat this year.”
The Cats got the strong performance they expected from junior point guard Emily Butler, who scored 19 points and had seven assists. Butler, who coach June Olkowski called “our best player,” was 3 of 4 from three-point range, 7 of 9 from the field overall and 2 of 2 from the free-throw stripe.
Butler, who was an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection last season, never played point guard before coming to NU. She considers herself a natural shooting guard, although she has been the Cats’ starting point guard for the last two years.
Butler said she feels comfortable at the point now, and “just like(s) to be on the court,” but the addition of Culver to the NU lineup brings about the possibility that Butler could return to her natural position of shooting guard.
Despite the Cats’ moments of success in Tuesday’s exhibition opener, not everything was rosy for NU. Olkowski cited “horrendous defense” and poor rebounding at both ends of the floor as NU’s weak spots.
NU looked slow on defense and was particularly weak in the post. The Cats were outrebounded 48-36, grabbing only eight offensive boards to the Challengers’ 21. They also scored only five second-chance points to the Challengers’ 12.
NU missed some easy shots in the game –
