The last game of the women’s basketball regular season had important implications for both Northwestern and Indiana.
Sunday at Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers wanted to improve their stnading heading into the Big Ten tournament.
And the Wildcats wanted to avoid a second consecutive winless conference campaign.
The Cats came back to Evanston empty handed, although Indiana’s 74-52 triumph on the Hoosiers’ Senior Day was a fairy-tale finish for the home team.
The win helped Indiana (14-13, 8-8 Big Ten) clinch a first-round bye in the tournament, while the Cats (4-23, 0-16) will enter Thursday’s first round as the lowest seed.
“We played like we have all year,” NU center Sarah Kwasinski said. “We continue to improve gradually, but it’s not like we’re making drastic steps.”
While NU’s two-year struggle in conference play dragged on, Kwasinski continued to impress.
The rookie capped her campaign for Big Ten Freshman of the Year, pouring in 22 points on 11 of 13 shooting. She nailed outside jumpers and turnaround shots over Hoosiers senior Jill Chapman throughout the game.
Chapman, an All-Big Ten center who averages 16 points per game, netted only eight Sunday.
“To be able to play against Chapman proves what type of player Sarah really is,” NU coach June Olkowski said. “(But besides Sarah) we need more consistent play.”
After four Cats scored in double figures in a close lose Thursday, Kwasinski was the only NU player with more than nine points Sunday.
Excluding the team’s leading scorer, the Cats combined to make only 28 percent of their shots from the field.
While NU couldn’t find its touch from the outside, the team also failed to get to the foul line. Junior Natalie Will went 2-for-3 from the charity stripe – but she was the only Cats player to earn a trip to the line.
“We reversed the ball well at certain times, but at other times we looked very stagnant,” Olkowski said. “They played good pressure defense, but we missed our shots.”
NU had an especially difficult time scoring at the end of the first half. The Cats trailed by only four points with 10 minutes remaining before the break, but Indiana followed with a 26-11 run to end the half.
“In the first half they made a run, and we got back on our heels,” Kwasinski said.
During the spurt, NU was victimized on the offensive glass. The Hoosiers grabbed six offensive rebounds – they finished with 14 – in the 10-minute span and had 13 second-chance points in the first half.
The Hoosiers utilized their second chances to make shots from long range. Indiana drained 47.1 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc, which led to 24 points.
Guard Tara Jones led the Hoosiers’ charge from the outside with a 4-for-5 performance from three-point range. The senior shined in her final home game, matching her career high with 21 points.
“She hasn’t been shooting that well all year,” Olkowski said. “Senior Night was her night.”
It was also a memorable day for Chapman. During the ceremony, Chapman’s boyfriend proposed to her, and the surprised Hoosiers basketball star accepted the offer.
The game wasn’t only a farewell to Indiana’s five seniors. But it also marked the return of Hoosiers’ coach Kathi Bennett. Sunday was Bennett’s first game pacing the sidelines since suffering a broken vertebrae in a Feb. 8 car accident.
The season finale was a perfect finish for Indiana, which has won three straight games heading into the Big Ten tournament.
But there was no dramatic finish for NU – in the game, or the regular season – and the team is looking to the tournament to find its own happy ending to a hard year.
“We need to just keep looking forward,” Olkowski said. “The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror.”
