Kelly Mazzante, Lindsay Whalen, Shereka Wright. What do they all have in common?
Each senior is considered among the top players in the country, and all three have the Wildcats on their schedules.
Every time the Northwestern women’s basketball team sets foot on the court, there seems to be a buzz in the arena — and it’s not because the Cats are turning heads.
“In my four years here, it’s probably the first year we’ve had such high-profile players (in the Big Ten),” senior Michelle Zylstra said. “There’s so much talent. In the senior class throughout the country, it’s a great class, probably the best in like 20 years.”
In today’s game against interstate rival Illinois (8-12, 2-7 Big Ten) at Welsh-Ryan Arena, NU (7-13, 0-9) will face a senior challenge in the Fighting Illini’s Cindy Dallas. She is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game, good for second in the conference. Coincidentally, rebounding has been one of NU’s weak areas all season long.
A little more than halfway through Big Ten action, Dallas and the conference’s other seniors have yet to disappoint.
The wealth of talent leaves NU playing more than half its conference games against nationally ranked teams. It also leaves the Cats figuring out how to stop future WNBA stars.
“That’s something that you work on in practice,” NU coach June Olkowski said. “It’s a lot of communication. It’s a lot of being able to pick people up in transition, understanding what they like to do and what their tendencies are, and making them go for their second or third option. It’s difficult to do at times.”
So far, the Cats have fared well in halting the senior stars. Penn State’s Mazzante, the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer, was held to just 12 points on 3-for-18 shooting Sunday. Mazzante averages 21.5 points per game, tied for first in the conference.
NU was also able to control Purdue’s Wright, who averages 19.6 points. The Cats held her to 10 on Jan. 15.
Olkowski said stopping these players was not enough, as her team fell to both squads.
“The object is to win the game,” she said. “You want other players to have to step up. But their other players did step up.”
While NU is sampling the country’s best upperclassmen, the Cats aren’t offering much by way of their own seniors.
Zylstra, Kristin Ambrose and Suzi Sutton make up NU’s entire senior class, and only Zylstra sees significant playing time.
Ambrose is in her second year with the team after transferring from Virginia and Sutton is a recent walk-on, making Zylstra the lone senior to have spent four years on NU’s squad.
“My biggest contribution that I can make to the team is I have four years of experience with me just playing college basketball, but also with our staff,” Zylstra said.
The senior is averaging 4.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in 26.5 minutes a game.
“I can’t always rely on my jump shot falling or me being able to defend everyone,” Zylstra said. “But I can rely on keeping the mental state that I have experience and I can be like a player-coach, especially with the young kids.”
