After the Northwestern women’s basketball team failed to win a Big Ten game last season, then-sophomore Emily Butler was optimistic about the future.
“Clearly we can only go up,” she said.
One year later, the Wildcats have gone up, but only in the loss column. Sixteen straight conference losses this year pushed their regular-season losing streak over the hill to 42.
“Obviously it’s disappointing, and we’ve got a lot to do to improve as a team and a staff,” head coach June Olkowski said after NU’s third straight last-place season.
The Cats started their 2001-02 season with high expectations. Most of NU’s plans were centered around Butler, the point guard who led the team in scoring and was honorable-mention All-Big Ten in 2000-01. The large and highly touted freshman class was another source of hope.
But Butler’s season came to a crashing halt after three weeks when she suffered a knee injury.
The loss turned NU from a young team with some experience into a young team led by a freshman, as rookie Melissa Culver was thrown into the starting point-guard position. Culver, who showed impressive athleticism and potential before Butler’s injury, at times struggled with the pressure of leading a Big Ten team.
The Cats were plagued by rookie mistakes in the backcourt, turning the ball over an average of 22.3 times per conference game.
NU’s greatest strength was in the post where freshman Sarah Kwasinski led NU in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Defensively, the lanky 6-foot-4 center was a shot-blocking machine. She finished the season tied for the most blocked shots in the conference and broke all of NU’s shot-blocking records.
Kwasinski was a bright spot in a disappointing season for the Cats. And according to Olkowski, the rookie plans to focus on bulking up over the summer, which could make her more of a rebounding force inside.
Without Butler, NU looked to juniors Natalie Will and Leslie Dolland for leadership. Will, arguably the Cats’ best defensive player, played hard every game but was not a vocal leader on the court.
Dolland didn’t start early in the season, but after a series of strong performances in late January, she became a regular member of the starting lineup.
The Cats became the first team to go two consecutive Big Ten seasons without winning a conference game, but it was not for a lack of close games. There were certainly blowouts – a 35-point loss to Penn State on Jan. 24 and a 33-point blowout at the hands of Wisconsin on Feb. 14 – but there were also some games within the Cats’ reach.
On Jan. 13, rookie mistakes cost the Cats in a five-point loss to then-No. 5 Wisconsin.
NU dropped three regular-season Big Ten games by fewer than ten points, and in each game the Cats’ inexperience was a major factor.
“We just don’t have that experience in close games,” Kwasinski said after a four-point loss to Michigan. “We panic at the end.”
The youth showed signs of maturing in the last game of the season as the Cats played Wisconsin down to the wire in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
For the first time all season, NU had an opportunity to win on the last possession of the game. Will’s shot fell just short, but it was the closest the Cats came to a win all season.
Next season, the Cats’ talented freshman class will be more mature. And the team is losing only one senior, Bill
