By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern started its season 6-1. It was the Wildcats’ best start since they started with the same record during the 1996-97 season – the last season the Cats earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
However, NU couldn’t keep up its early season success. After defeating Princeton for their sixth victory on Dec. 1 – matching their win total from last season – the Cats dropped their next seven, falling to 6-8, heading into tonight’s matchup at Penn State.
The Cats lost their Big Ten opener 93-72 at Wisconsin on Dec. 28.
“We played teams that are good and we competed,” coach Beth Combs said. “We were in every game. We liked what we did heading into the Big Ten (schedule).”
The Cats stayed close in matchups with No. 23 DePaul and Utah, which advanced to the Elite Eight in 2006.
But eventually, the close games got out of hand quickly. NU lost to DePaul 74-66 after trailing 65-60 with a little more than two minutes to play. The Cats also trailed Utah 64-59 late, before the Utes pulled away for an 80-69 victory.
Despite the record, Combs said she liked what the team did against their tough non-conference schedule.
“We need to play for 40 minutes,” Combs said. “Right now we are playing really good basketball for about 30-34 (minutes). We’re allowing teams to go on runs that we’re just not stopping soon enough. We’re competing to the end. I can’t take a 6-7 record heading into the conference as any indication that we’ve done something wrong.”
The Cats averaged 18.3 turnovers per game and lost by an average margin of 14.9 points during the losing streak.
They averaged 17 turnovers and outscored opponents by an average of 16.7 points per game over their first seven games.
“We started off hot and it built up a lot of confidence,” junior guard Sara Stutz said. “I think we have to be proud of what we accomplished early on, but we have to also take a look at what’s been happening the past couple games.”
Sophomore forward Kristin Cartwright said the team needs to focus on the small things in the games to end the losing streak and return to the win column.
“I think now that we just know we have the ability to win every game we play,” she said.
But the Big Ten – currently with three ranked teams – presents just as many challenges as NU’s recent stretch. The Cats won two Big Ten games last season.
Cartwright said the team is up to the challenge of upsetting conference foes.
“I suspect we’ll surprise a lot of Big Ten teams because our record last year wasn’t great in the Big Ten,” Cartwright said. “I think we’ll get a lot of wins and (turn) a lot of heads in the Big Ten.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
