June Olkowski is not satisfied.
The Northwestern women’s basketball team (7-5, 0-1 Big Ten) is off to its best start since the 1998-99 season, one year before Olkowski took over as head coach.
But a loss to Michigan (8-7, 1-1) in NU’s Big-Ten opener Sunday was reason enough to alarm the Wildcats’ coach: The toughest part of their schedule is still to come.
“We’ve been able to get away with some things, people out and playing hurt,” Olkowski said after the loss. “Today it caught up with us.”
NU made a game of it for 20 minutes, taking a one-point lead into the locker room. But 23 turnovers and 21 Wolverine offensive rebounds broke down the Cats, who lost 62-43.
“We’ve got to have more confidence in handling the ball. That’s the main thing,” sophomore Ifeoma Okonkwo said.
The absence of junior guard Samantha McComb played a key role in NU’s turnover problems.
Both McComb and junior Sarah Kwasinski have been plagued by injury since the beginning of December, and neither has been in the starting lineup since the Dec. 17 game at Illinois-Chicago.
Initially the Cats were able to cope with the pair’s limited availability, winning a triple-overtime thriller against Illinois-Chicago and dominating Southern Illinois on the road.
Okonkwo continued the best season of her career, averaging 11.5 points per game and leading the team with 6.2 rebounds per game.
But a Dec. 28 first-round matchup against Loyola Marymount in the Lions’ tournament in Los Angeles proved too much to overcome, as NU fell 63-45.
Several NU turnovers and superb three-point shooting by Loyola Marymount snapped the Cats’ three-game winning streak.
“In L.A. we just weren’t on the court,” freshman Alex Mueller said. “We had no rhythm.”
The team bounced back the next day and took third place, beating Hampton 58-45.
Junior Melissa Culver put in 15- and 13-point performances on her way to earning all-tournament honors.
But Olkowski said her team can’t rely on its upperclassmen alone. With no reports on when McComb will be back, Olkowski insists that younger players must step up and be leaders.
“We missed Sam, but that’s no excuse,” Olkowski said. “Mo (Culver) and A.J. (Glasauer) have enough experience, and everybody has got to take a little more responsibility and say, ‘I’m going to get the next pass.’ That’s all we have to worry about: getting the next pass.”
