Not much has changed in a week for the Northwestern women’s basketball team.
On Jan. 24, the Wildcats lost at Penn State by 35 points. The location changed to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Wednesday night, but the end result was all too familiar for the Cats – another 30-point blowout by the Lady Lions, with sophomore standout Kelly Mazzante leading the charge.
NU came out of the blocks slow, scoring a season-low 17 points in the first half. Consistent with the rest of the season, the Cats were plagued by ball control problems, turning it over 16 times in the first 20 minutes.
NU was especially troubled by the full-court press that Penn State implemented sporadically throughout the game. After the tipoff, the Cats gave up the ball as a result of the trap three times in slightly more than a minute without crossing half court.
Turning the ball over too much to kick it into the post, the Cats scored only six points in the paint and made it to the line for just four free-throw attempts before the break.
“We didn’t come out to battle in the first half,” assistant coach Cleve Wright said. “We were dead before the second half started.”
Penn State was energetic from the start, armed with the athleticism of Mazzante, who leads the nation in scoring. The shooting guard scored 26 points on the night, just above her season average of 25.1. But the Lady Lions did not put on a one-woman show.
Freshman point guard Jess Strom played tenacious defense and led a balanced scoring attack with seven assists and 10 points of her own. Guard Katrena Carr came off the bench to add 10 points. Penn State recorded eight blocks and 12 steals and turned the ball over only 12 times.
The Cats looked sharper in the second half, committing half as many turnovers and scoring almost twice as many points as they did before the break.
“In the second half we did a much better job,” NU head coach June Olkowski said. “We attacked more. We took more shots, and they were good looks. But then it’s no pressure – when you’re down (20 points) you have to pick up the intensity.”
The Cats managed to trim the Lady Lions’ 20-point halftime lead to 14 with 12:30 remaining, but Penn State pulled away and the Cats played a futile game of catch-up.
By cutting down on the mistakes in the backcourt, the Cats were able to get the ball into their post players more often in the second half. Junior Leslie Dolland had seven points in the half, giving her nine for the game, and freshman Suzanne Morrison notched six second-half points. NU also made its way to the free-throw line significantly more after the break, shooting 12 of 20.
The Cats, who usually rely on long-range shooting to clear out the post for Kwasinski and Dolland, shot 0-for-6 from behind the arc in the contest. They shot 30.9 percent from the field and a meager 54.2 percent from the line.
NU’s defense was more aggressive, getting hands on the ball. But they often fell short of gaining possession of loose balls.
“That was frustrating,” freshman guard Samantha McComb said. “It’s definitely discouraging when we can’t get to (loose balls), and then they get little chippy baskets off them.”
The Cats recorded only three steals.
Despite a much-improved second-half effort, the Cats’ real problem was that they didn’t have an answer for Mazzante.
“Look at Mazzante,” Messenger said. “She misses shots and keeps on shooting. We need to do that. We need that kind of confidence.”
