Much of No. 17 Northwestern’s early season success has been attributed to newcomers to the program.
New coach Tracey Fuchs has helped the Wildcats get off to a 9-3 start, and transfer Chelsea Armstrong leads the nation in scoring.
Yet the emergence of senior forward Elizabeth Dobbs has also been crucial to NU’s fast start.
Although Dobbs has contributed throughout her career, she has stepped up even more this season.
“She hasn’t been a surprise,” Fuchs said. “But she has really, really worked to bring her game to the next level. She might not get all the statistics, but she’s the one upfront who makes things happen.”
Dobbs is NU’s third-leading scorer with 14 points, but her biggest impact usually comes when she is not scoring the goals herself.
Armstrong gave Dobbs credit for setting up many of the goals she’s scored this year. Dobbs’ aggressiveness and effort has helped Armstrong find the back of the net 19 times in the first 12 games of the season.
“She’s like a little bulldog out there,” Armstrong said. “She’s always getting the ball off the defense. Probably 70 percent of my goals have come straight off the back of Dobbs’ hard work. She’s great to play with.”
All four of Dobbs’ assists this year led to goals by Armstrong.
Dobbs gave credit for her early season success to her teammates and to the new NU coaching staff.
Since Fuchs’ arrival, the Cats have improved because they are holding each other accountable for their play, Dobbs said.
“Having a new coaching staff has really brought our team together,” Dobbs said. “We’ve all improved, and we’re really clicking well together. We’ve really gotten stronger as a team.”
Dobbs has refined her all-around game in the past few months, Fuchs said.
One of Dobbs’ strengths on the field is her ability to change speeds and directions quickly. Combining that skill with her natural vision on the field allows Dobbs to be aggressive when NU is on the attack.
“She’s really, really quick, so she’s able to slow down and go back to full speed in less than two seconds, which is really hard for the defense to manage,” Fuchs said. “And she’s able to realize if we’re numbers up to make the pass or whether to shoot now and take shots for herself. (Her playmaking) has really solidified our forward line.”
NU will host Michigan on Friday. The Wolverines (3-7, 1-1 Big Ten) are perched just outside of a top-20 ranking in the latest coaches’ poll, thanks to an extremely difficult schedule. Six of the team’s losses have come to programs ranked in the top 20, four of them by only a goal.
The Cats will try to become the seventh top 20 team to knock off the Wolverines, and to do so, Dobbs will need to show off her all-around game by playing aggressive defense on the front line.
“One of the biggest things we’ll be looking for from her is when their backfield has the ball, that she really puts good defensive pressure on and can really force mistakes,” Fuchs said. “That will give us two to three, maybe more, extra opportunities per half.”
