Recent performances against No. 8 Ohio State and Illinois gave evidence that Northwestern’s defense was coming together. Ohio State turned the ball over on its first five possessions while Illinois had 21 giveaways on Sunday. After Indiana’s sixth turnover in the first six minutes it appeared that the trend would continue Thursday night.
But the Hoosiers turned it over only two more times in the final 14 minutes of the half as they built a 16-point halftime lead. Indiana’s scoring prowess was most evident in the paint, where the Hoosiers shredded the Wildcats’ interior defense for 47 points. The output was higher than the 40 points scored by Ohio State, which features All-American center Jessica Davenport.
“We didn’t defend,” coach Beth Combs said. “I think that’s a problem when Ohio State has less points in the paint than Indiana does. Indiana’s points in the paint came from their guards, and that’s just a matter of not stopping people one-on-one, not rotating on defense and not getting in the proper places.”
The Hoosiers’ dominance in the post was so strong that Indiana had more points in the paint than NU had in total until senior Ifeoma Okonkwo’s free throw brought the Cats’ score to 48 with 3:14 left in the second half.
One reason for NU’s post troubles may have been the absence of freshman center Julie Bielawski, who missed Thursday night’s game due to illness. Fellow freshman center Lauren Roberts was also been unavailable, as she is still recovering from a concussion suffered during a pickup game last summer.
“I think Bielawski gives us solid minutes that we need in order to give people a break,” Combs said. “But we just didn’t get it done tonight, and I’m not sure if one more person stepping in would have helped us tonight when our five starters aren’t ready to get it done.”
Indiana had four players score in double figures, led by senior guard Cyndi Valentin, who finished with 19 points.
“We weren’t jumping on passes,” sophomore guard Sara Stutz said. “We weren’t getting to the right spots, and basically we weren’t talking enough. That kind of got worse in the second half. When you get tired you need to talk even more.”
Valentin’s team-leading point-total, coupled with center Angela Hawkins’ 14 points, was a further indication of NU’s interior weakness.
But while the Cats were outrebounded by the Hoosiers, NU actually had more second chance points. The team also pulled down 20 defensive boards, evidence that there may be low post ability for the coaches to work with.
“We know it’s in them,” Combs said. “We’ll get there. We need to be patient. We all need to work a little bit harder and we’ll get it done.”
Reach David Kalan at [email protected].
