The Northwestern women’s basketball team lost its four opening Big Ten games during winter break, playing with a lineup that didn’t include injured guard Emily Butler.
The Wildcats (4-11, 0-4 Big Ten) will have to find a way to win without Butler, a 2000-01 second-team All Big Ten selection. According to head coach June Olkowski, Butler is out for the season with a knee injury suffered at the Florida International Shootout, held November 23-24.
Butler’s injury is a rare cartlidge loss, not the ACL tear that doctors originally suspected. The junior has undergone two surgeries, the most recent on Jan. 2, when doctors found that the cartlidge was beginning to heal on its own.
“It will probably always be sore and I’ll always wear a brace,” Butler said. “But there’s a good chance I’ll play again, so that’s good.”
While Butler will spend the next three weeks on crutches, the Cats will scramble to find an effective lineup.
Freshman Melissa Culver has taken over the reigns at point guard, where she starts and averages 26.1 minutes per game. Olkowski said Culver is “coming along,” but she still suffers from some rookie mistakes — while she leads the Cats in assists, she’s also tops in turnovers.
“She needs to make better decisions,” Olkowski said of Culver’s turnovers.
Culver is not the only freshman getting considerable playing time — first-years fill four of the top-five spots for minutes played. Sarah Kwasinski averages the most court time on the team with 27.5 minutes, and Suzanne Morrison is second with 26.3 minutes. Culver’s 26.1 minutes put her third, and Samantha McComb rounds out the top five with 18.9 minutes. Junior Natalie Will, who ranks fourth, is the only upperclassman on the list.
“They’re young, but I see them getting better all the time,” Butler said of the young squad that she now watches from the sidelines. “And they’re really trying.”
The Cats won three of four non-conference games prior to their first Big Ten match, beating the University of Denver, Eastern Illinois and Long Beach State in early December.
NU has been less successful in conference play. According to Olkowski, Iowa (9-5, 2-2) “came out and drilled us” in the Cats’ 74-47 conference-opening loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Dec. 22.
The Cats were more competitive Dec. 30 against Illinois (9-4, 2-1), which was coming off an upset of No. 12 Michigan. NU cut the margin to 15 in the 68-53 loss, with Kwasinski and Culver combining for 30 of NU’s 53 points. Culver drained five three-pointers in the game, but the Cats’ 35 second-half points were not enough to pull off an upset.
NU put up an impressive fight against No. 9 Purdue (2-2, 11-3) on Thursday, coming within six points in the middle of the second half. But the Boilermakers kept the Cats out of striking distance behind Shereka Wright, who played all 40 minutes and scored 17 points. The freshman duo of Culver and Kwasinski combined for 32 points in the 77-65 loss.
“We played strong half-court defense against Purdue,” Culver said. “We played really well against a top-10 team, and that should give us a lot of confidence.”
The Cats were unable to take that momentum on the road against Ohio State (3-1, 8-7) on Sunday, where poor shooting and rebounding led to a 77-51 loss. The Buckeyes’ defense prevented the Cats from getting the ball inside to Kwaskinski and Morrison, forcing bad shots from perimeter players. The Cats’ backcourt went 3-for-26 from the field and shot a meager 2-for-19 from behind the arc.
“We’re disappointed, and we lost some confidence,” Olkowski said. “But this team still has the heart and the hunger. I’m impressed with the resilient play at practice (on Monday). Over the break we made some strides. We’ve got to make some leaps now.”
