A 31-0 run for any basketball team is remarkable. Coming from the Northwestern women’s basketball team, it’s downright unbelievable.
Although a few optimistic fans thought NU (7-16, 2-8 Big Ten) had a chance to win Sunday’s home game against Michigan (11-10, 2-8), no one expected the Wildcats to annihilate the Wolverines 67-38.
But they did.
“We were in control the whole way,” NU guard Kristin Ambrose said.
NU dominated the game from the first basket until the final seconds expired. NU held the Wolverines to more than 13 scoreless minutes while extending its lead from 7-6 to 38-6.
Michigan couldn’t muster a double-digit point total until the last minute of the half, when Tabitha Pool’s 3-pointer brought the Wolverines’ total to 12.
“The only sweeter thing would have been to keep them in single digits for the first half,” NU forward Suzanne Morrison said. “But then they had to go and sink that 3.”
Morrison will have to settle to holding Michigan to its lowest score since 1994 and notching the Cats’ first conference victory by more than 25 points since 1997 — coincidentally, a 104-65 win over Michigan.
The Cats treated the 1,704 seated in Welsh-Ryan Arena to a parade of offensive prowess in the first half, shooting 65.4 percent from the field and 75 percent beyond the arc.
At the half, the Cats had tallied 40 points. The Wolverines scored only 38 points for the entire game.
The Wolverines problems started with shooting. They connected on 12 of 55 shots, including just 1 of 16 from the 3-point line. They were also out-rebounded by the Cats, 33-31.
“We had a total game collapse,” Michigan coach Sue Guevara said.
For the Cats, a team used to losing by double-digits, Sunday’s resounding Big Ten victory left them speechless.
“It felt unreal,” Ambrose said. “On the court, we were all smiling and shaking our heads. The pieces just fell into place.”
So how did NU revolutionize its offensive and defensive play seemingly overnight?
“You get to a point in the season when you have to have a little pow-wow and discuss what you’ve been doing,” Olkowski said. “We all made a commitment to ourselves and to the team to get better.”
This new commitment was evident in the balance the team brought to the court on Sunday, especially in scoring. Sophomore forward Suzanne Morrison posted a game-high 16 points, and Ambrose and freshman Ifeoma Okonkwo each added 10. Coming off the bench, sophomore forward Maria McCarthy posted a career-high five points.
Morrison shot 6-for-9 from the field and sunk both her 3-point attempts.
“I shot the ball with complete and utter confidence,” Morrison said.
Michigan held sophomore center Sarah Kwasinski, usually the Cats’ high scorer, to only six points. But she racked up a career-high six assists and served mainly as a defensive threat — a position she is more comfortable playing.
“I like this role so much better — kicking it up in the open 3, being able to work the inside-outside game,” Kwasinski said. “I could have scored no points and been just as happy.”
Okonkwo and senior forward Natalie Will led the Cats with six rebounds, and Okonkwo posted a career- and game-high four steals, as well.
The crowd of 1,704 was the largest of the season.
“I can remember my freshman year when the stands were empty,” Morrison said. “We would almost look forward to road games, because even if the crowd wasn’t cheering for us, at least there’d be noise.”
Sunday’s victory also put Olkowski in a different mood. Instead of pulling the Cats together to attempt a comeback, she had little to say when her team held a 30-point lead.
“I kept complementing them,” Olkowski said. “And I just kept telling them they have to rebound.”
