Rebuilding while everyone else is reloading is not usually a motto most teams want to have. But when a team is rebuilding its program with good, young talent, this philosophy can work to the team’s benefit.
This is the current state of the Northwestern women’s basketball program. The Wildcats are in the midst of rebuilding their program while it seems that every other team in the Big Ten this season is gearing up for a championship run.
The Cats are also without any senior superstars to carry the team to greatness. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, the favorites for the championship will look to their seniors come tournament time.
Illinois’ Aminata Yanni and Cindy Dallas, Minnesota’s Lindsey Whalen, Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante and Jessica Brungo, and Purdue’s Shereka Wright, Beth Jones, Erica Valek, and Lindsey Hicks all will play a huge role in how far each of their respective teams advance not only in the Big Ten tournament but also in the NCAA tournament in March.
“The Big Ten is tough,” fifth-year NU coach June Olkowski said. “We’re building the program, and it seems like everybody else is reloading.”
Nevertheless, NU does have a strong core of juniors led by 6-foot-4 center Sarah Kwasinski and 5-foot-8 guard Samantha McComb. Kwasinski led the team in scoring and rebounds last year, averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. McComb was second on the team last year in points per game (10.4), rebounds per game (3.0), and assists per game (2.5).
“I look up to the junior class,” freshman guard Breanne Smilie said. “On the court, being new here, they’re always helping me and telling me what to do. One of the biggest things you notice is what they do off the court, and I feel like if I ever need them, they are there for me.”
The Cats also boast a promising freshman class, comprised of both local and overseas talent. A.J. Glasauer and Alex Mueller both hail from Germany, while Smilie played with Kwasinski at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Ill.
“I am very impressed with the way they have come in this season,” Kwasinski said. “I played with Breanne, so it’s great to play with her on another level. Knowing how she plays was great for me, and I think it helped her out, too.”
Olkowski said she expects to play the same starting five as last season — Kwasinski, McComb, guard Melissa Culver, and forwards Ifeoma Okonkwo and Suzanne Morrison, who has been battling an ankle injury in early practices.
With only three Big Ten wins and eight wins overall in 2002-03, the Cats will be looking to better their record this season but will have to do it against a tougher nonconference schedule. NU’s nonconference schedule ranks as the nation’s 68th toughest and their schedule as a whole ranks as the 17th toughest.
The stiffest competition NU may face all season could come at the Loyola Marymount Tournament Dec. 28-29. If the Cats defeat Loyola Marymount in their first game, it would set up a possible championship game against No. 2 Duke, provided the Blue Devils get past Hampton in their first game. The Cats nonconference schedule also includes home games against Creighton on Nov. 21 and DePaul on Dec. 1.
The Cats’ Big Ten schedule will also provide a stiff challenge. With four teams ranked in the Top 25, every game will be a test for NU.
“We are playing some tough games home and away, and our nonconference schedule will get us ready for the Big Ten,” Olkowski said.
A jump to the top of the standings may be too much to expect this season, but NU will look to at least pull away from the bottom-dwellers of the Big Ten.
“We want to be a team that other teams are afraid to play,” Kwasinski said. “We don’t want to be that second-tier team that we feel like we have been in the past. We want to be a team to be reckoned with.”
