When Northwestern takes on seventh-seeded Wisconsin (16-13, 6-12 Big Ten) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday morning, it will need big contributions from two family members to make a postseason run.
But whatever magic sophomore center Amy Jaeschke and her senior cousin, forward Ellen Jaeschke, can make happen, this postseason will be the final time the two take the court together.
With Ellen set to finish up her final season with the team, Amy Jaeschke will take the court next year without her teammate cousin for the first time in her collegiate career .
“When we were growing up, we didn’t really know each other that well just because of our age difference,” said Amy Jaeschke, who recently garnered second-team All-Big Ten honors. “She would hang out with the older cousins and I would hang out with the younger cousins. Just getting to know her over these last few years has been awesome. I’m really going to miss her next year.”
While the family split may make life easier for sportscasters (“Jaeschke passes to Jaeschke, who dribbles right, and hits Jaeschke again for the layup”), the Wildcats (7-22, 3-15) will be hard-pressed to find someone to fill Ellen Jaeschke’s role. Even though the senior’s minutes have diminished this season as first-year coach Joe McKeown has favored younger players, McKeown said she brings more to the team than the stat sheet shows.
Her bond with Amy Jaeschke, the Cats’ leading scorer, has played a large part in the younger cousin’s success. According to Amy Jaeschke, no one makes life on the court easier for her than her older cousin.
According to McKeown, no one makes life harder for Amy Jaeschke during practice.
“Amy has obviously had so many accolades as a player, and Ellen really competes with her every day, ” McKeown said. “Probably guards her better than anybody in the league – just knows all her game, all her moves. She has a really hard time scoring against Ellen. She’ll go out and get 34 against Clemson but won’t score two points against her cousin in practice.”
Even though Ellen Jaeschke is a senior – she actually graduated early last year with a degree in human development and psychological services – she has only played two years for the Cats. The Cary, Ill., product spent her first two years at the Air Force Academy, where she started 21 games her sophomore season.
After that year, the 6-foot-2 forward decided she wanted to play closer to home, knowing there was a chance she could eventually suit up with her cousin at NU.
Ellen Jaeschke sat out a year from competition due to NCAA transfer rules and then played one season under former Cats coach Beth Combs. Now, with McKeown in his first year at NU, Ellen finds herself playing for her third coach in four years.
“I’m a rare breed in that I’ve had three college coaches,” Ellen Jaeschke said. “It’s been kind of hard, especially as a senior, learning a new system again after already doing it twice.”
But the experience has made Ellen Jaeschke a pro at dealing with transitions, going from one school to another, from coach to coach. And looking back at her experience this year makes this postseason bittersweet.
“It’ll be sad to say goodbye, leave a team setting,” she said. “I’m going to miss everyone on this team, but I’m happy to move on.”
