A.J. Glasauer had the giddiness of a little child. After spending last season coming off the bench, the junior forward has been called on to be a leader for the Wildcats.
She responded by scoring a career-high 27 points as Northwestern (1-0) romped in its home opener, 93-77, over Creighton.
“That’s what I was working for all summer,” Glasauer said. “That’s what coaches expect me to do.
“It was great. It felt good.”
Glasauer’s previous high was a 20-point effort against Charlotte last December. She also pulled down four rebounds, notched six assists and picked up a steal in 34 minutes. But she gave much of the credit to her teammates.
“It was a lot of assists,” Glasauer said. “(Forward Ifeoma Okonkwo), (guard) Nadia (Bibbs), (and forward Sara) Stutz (had) a lot of assists, and it’s just layups. But that’s what I want to do. That’s what I wanted to do last year, and it didn’t quite work out how I wanted it to. This is how I wanted to play.”
The Cats battled the Bluejays’ full-court press with long passes coupled with Glasauer and Okonkwo streaking toward the basket. NU had 14 fast-break points while Creighton only could muster two.
Okonkwo also had a big day with 21 points, nine boards, two blocks and two steals. She and Glasauer spearheaded an offensive outburst for a team that looked completely different from the squad that struggled to put up 68 points against the Chicago Challengers last weekend.
“We worked on our weaknesses after the exhibition game,” coach Beth Combs said. “Our kids came out with a lot of confidence and having a lot of fun, and that’s what this game is all about. I’m very, very proud of our effort today.”
Four Cats scored in double figures: Glasauer, Okonkwo, Stutz and freshman center Julie Bielawski.
Bielawski came off the bench to make an immediate impact in the paint, scoring 10 points from the low post while also grabbing three defensive rebounds and a block. Bielawski was one of three freshmen to play a major role in the winning effort as guards Erin Dickerson and Kristin Cartwright saw significant playing.
The experience was a rough one for Cartwright, who played the entire game in foul trouble. She picked up her fifth late in the second half after only eight minutes on the floor.
“They were ready to play,” Combs said. “I think Kristin Cartwright is going to get a lot better more quickly and didn’t play to her full potential tonight. Julie we’re very, very pleased with, and Erin Dickerson did exactly what she needed to do and that was put the ball in the hole at times we needed it.”
NU led the entire way, taking an early six-point lead that stretched to 15 at halftime and had grown to 21 midway through the second half.
Creighton struggled to get their offense moving as preseason Honorable Mention All-American forward Angie Janis was constantly in foul trouble, something that Combs admitted, “definitely doesn’t hurt.”
Janis still scored 21 of the Jays’ 39 points during the 18 minutes that she was on the floor.
The Cats made a vast improvement in their ball handling, outscoring the Jays 21-10 off turnovers a week after being outscored 31-10 by the Challengers.
But NU still has kinks to figure out before traveling to Missouri on Tuesday, having been out-rebounded 47-38. Creighton took 26 off the offensive glass, leading to 17 second chance points.
“We need to be able to handle the basketball,” Combs said. “I’m not pleased with the offensive rebounds we gave up and those are two things we knew we could control, turnovers and offensive boards. We got one out of two and we’ll build on that for next game.”
Reach David Kalan at [email protected].
