The Northwestern women’s basketball team would have had to have done some damage control in the lane if it expected to beat No. 11 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Sunday.
The last time the Wildcats played the Golden Gophers, Minnesota outscored NU by 24 points in the paint en route to a blowout win.
And just like in their first meeting on Jan. 8, the Cats (8-18, 1-14 Big Ten) were unable to control the Gophers’ 6-foot-2 Janel McCarville, who dominated the lane and helped Minnesota to an easy 73-46 win.
McCarville finished with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting and nabbed nine rebounds, leading the Gophers (20-5, 9-5) to a 24-4 start that put the Cats behind for good.
“Altogether, the first half was terrible,” NU freshman Alex Mueller said. “They scored 45 points in one half. They made most of their shots, and we did not do a good job stopping McCarville in the lane.”
The inside threat from McCarville wasn’t the only obstacle standing in the Cats’ way. Minnesota shot 6 for 12 from behind the three-point line in the first half (8 for 19 overall), as three other Gophers’ players finished in double digits along with McCarville.
“They just jumped out early,” NU coach June Olkowski said. “They shot the ball really well, and we didn’t.”
One of the four Minnesota players in double digits was Kelly Roysland, the freshman guard who replaced preseason Big Ten co-Player of the Year selection Lindsay Whalen in the starting lineup. Whalen went down Feb. 11 and will sit for several more weeks with broken bones in her right hand.
Roysland didn’t disappoint, contributing 11 points, four rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes on the floor. Sophomore guard Shannon Schonrock added 18 to Minnesota’s point total in a game-leading 38 minutes played.
With Whalen out Minnesota looked even more composed on offense, Olkowski said.
“They ran their half-court offense better than I’ve ever seen them run it,” Olkowski said. “Maybe it was because they didn’t have Lindsay Whalen and they weren’t watching her with the ball.”
The Cats were explosive in the beginning of the second half, coming out of the locker room with a bang and giving the Gophers a scare. Minnesota led 45-21 at halftime.
“We scored on our first four possessions of the half and cut their lead to 13,” Olkowski said. “But they took us to 18 again and we couldn’t catch up.”
The Cats struggled with two problems that have plagued them all year: rebounds and turnovers. Led by McCarville, the Gophers won the battle of the boards, 33-19. The Cats coughed the ball up 17 times, while Minnesota limited its turnovers to eight.
The only bright spot for NU’s offense was Mueller, who scored 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from behind the arc.
But even Mueller’s fine shot couldn’t help NU recover from a first half in which Minnesota scored one less point than the Cats tallied in the entire game.
“Forty-five points is just too much for one half,” Mueller said.
