What separates the Big Ten’s best women’s basketball team from the worst? What’s the difference between the nation’s fifth-ranked team and a squad that hasn’t won a regular-season Big Ten game in two years?
Five points and one unfortunate play.
The Northwestern women’s basketball team (4-12, 0-5 Big Ten) was on the receiving end of that unfortunate play Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, and the result was a heartbreaking 70-65 loss to Wisconsin.
“(NU) didn’t play like a team that is 0-5 in the Big Ten,” Badgers coach Jane Albright said. “Northwestern beat us in practically every statistical category, but this was not a statistical performance.”
With 27 seconds left in the game and the Badgers (14-1, 5-0) up by three, junior Wildcats forward Nicole Daniels stole the ball from Wisconsin’s Tamara Moore. Sprawled on the floor protecting the ball, Daniels called a timeout to ensure possession – but NU had no timeouts remaining.
Reminiscent of Chris Webber’s famous Final Four blunder in 1993, the mistake cost the Cats a technical foul and ended their upset aspirations.
“Nicole clearly had the ball in her hands,” NU head coach June Olkowski said. “We mentioned we had no timeouts, but it was the heat of the moment.”
At the beginning of the contest, none of the 834 in attendance would have guessed the game would come down to the wire. The highly-favored visitors started the game on a 9-3 run behind the scoring of Moore, last week’s Big Ten Player of the Week, who notched six points in the opening five minutes.
But Daniels came off the bench to frustrate the 2001 All-Big Ten selection. Daniels had four steals and one block against the Wisconsin guard, who finished with 24 points. In addition, Daniels’ tight one-on-one defense forced Moore into 11 turnovers.
“Moore was a great player, and I just wanted to slow her down,” Daniels said. “Coach told me all week I would have to step up my game, and I knew it would be tough.”
Turnovers, NU’s Achilles’ heel all year, may be contagious, because they also plagued the Badgers on Sunday. Wisconsin’s 12 first-half turnovers – it finished with 23 total – allowed the Cats to stay close despite shooting just 26 percent from the field before the break.
Freshman guard Melissa Culver carried NU’s offense in the first half, scoring 12 of the Cats’ 24 points. She finished with 18 points and 10 assists, notching her first double-double of the season.
“Melissa is capable of playing this way every game,” Olkowski said. “She just has to get over herself. When she makes a mistake she becomes like Velcro. I could kick whoever invented Velcro.”
In a sloppy first half, there were nine lead changes, and neither team’s offense found a rhythm. Wisconsin had a hard time putting points on the board because its leading scorer, forward Jessie Stomski, was in foul trouble for most of the period. She didn’t score a single point and had three fouls in four minutes of first-half play.
But even without Stomski, the Badgers closed the half on an 8-0 run. Their 31-24 halftime advantage was the largest lead of the game.
“We did not go inside enough in the first half,” NU center Sarah Kwasinski said. “We wanted to take it to the glass more in the second half.”
Kwasinski, celebrating her 19th birthday, couldn’t find her stroke in the first half but poured in 12 points after the intermission to finish with 17. On defense, the freshman center had two blocks and drew two critical charging calls before she fouled out with 1:29 remaining.
Starting forwards Leslie Dolland and Natalie Will also provided the Cats with viable scoring options. Will scored all 11 of her points in the final period, including a three-pointer from the corner with 16 seconds remaining in the game. Dolland powered in 12 points to record her second straight double-digit game.
“Our strength is inside and (in) our post-play,” Olkowski said. “Sarah has a great touch. When the ball goes into her, it should not come out. She should be a black hole.”
Olkowski knows NU will have to better utilize its post play if it wants to snap a regular-season Big Ten losing streak. The Cats’ last win came Jan. 20, 2000, when they beat Minnesota – 32 straight league games ago.
Sunday’s loss to Wisconsin was the team’s third competitive performance against a top-10 team this year. NU lost close games earlier this year to then-No. 5 Iowa State and then-No. 10 Purdue.
Although the team failed to get a win, Olkowski viewed the game as a positive.
“I could not be more proud of my team,” she said. “We showed ourselves we could play in this league.”
