As most students spent Thanksgiving break with friends and family, the Northwestern women’s basketball team spent time trailing its opponents.
The Wildcats (0-4) lost Wednesday at Miami (Fla.), 86-69, and failed to win a game in the Florida International Thanksgiving Classic. In the first round, NU fell 71-53 to Florida International. Then in the consolation game, Monmouth edged the Cats 58-53.
“It was tough having Thanksgiving on the road and away from our families,” freshman Suzanne Morrison said. “It was just us and divorced fathers with their children at the restaurant.”
Not only did the team eat a traditional turkey dinner, but it also played with alligators on the Everglades boat tour and visited sunny South Beach in Miami.
The trip allowed the players a chance to spend time together, but it did not provide any relief on the court.
“We bonded as a team, but there is no bonding like after a win,” NU coach June Olkowski said.
In their first game, the Cats shot a season high 49.1 percent from the field and outrebounded the Hurricanes 37-34. Junior guard Emily Butler scored a game-high 20 points, and sophomore forward Michelle Zylstra contributed 17 points.
Despite scoring a season-best 69 points, NU committed 22 turnovers against Miami’s half-court trap. The Hurricanes pulled away from the Cats, making 11 of 13 free-throw attempts in the final two minutes.
“The turnovers are a result of not making decisions quick enough,” Olkowski said. “We need to read the defense better and be more decisive.”
Turnovers remained a problem for NU in the holiday tournament, as the team had a combined 45 giveaways in the two games.
NU had a 26-25 lead over Florida International (3-1) before the tournament host went on a 9-0 run to capture the advantage. Florida International used a 9-4 run at the start of the second half to put the Cats away.
“The first two losses were very disappointing,” Morrison said. “We played very hard, we just shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Cats never found a rhythm in their loss to Monmouth (1-3). NU shot only 30.6 percent from the field, and a 9-for-21 second-half effort from the free-throw line hurt it down the stretch.
Freshman Sarah Kwasinski remained a bright spot for NU — she recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
“The basket got smaller and smaller for us,” Olkowski said. “We just needed to knock more shots down.”
Olkowski used three different starting lineups in Florida. No player scored in double-figures more than once in the three games, and the team used all 13 eligible players.
But one thing was consistent for the Cats last week — they came out of the locker room slowly. All three of the team’s opponents built leads against NU early in each half.
“We have to play basketball for 40 minutes. It is a simple game — one orange thing and another orange thing,” said Zylstra, referring to the basketball and the hoop.
NU will be looking for its first win of the season against DePaul at 7 p.m. tonight in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Cats hope to overpower the Blue Demons (2-2), who play with a four-guard lineup.
NU is strong on the boards and has outrebounded three of its first four opponents.
“I know all of our problems,” Olkowski said. “I’m just trying to find solutions.”
