A hurdle Northwestern has not overcome for 10 years stands between it and nationals: the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
“(Making nationals) would be a big deal,” coach Emily Fletcher said. “It would be huge, a real landmark moment for the program.”
In the central regionals held in Columbus, Ind., on Thurday through Saturday, the No. 37 Wildcats have to finish in the top eight of 24 teams to advance.
“We have a good chance,” she said. “A number of teams that are seeded in front of us-obviously the first few seeds (Arizona State), (Southern California), Purdue, those teams definitely stood above the rest all year and they’re dominant. … The teams that are in front of us ranked four through 12 are teams we have competed with during the year and beaten at different times.”
Fletcher cited NU’s finishes above No. 21 New Mexico, No. 22 Florida State, No. 33 Louisville and No. 35 Kent State, as well as the close finish against fifth-seeded Michigan State in the Lady Buckeye Invitational as examples of the team’s performances against top-ranked opponents.
“We know we’ve beaten a bunch of those teams that are there,” junior Rebecca Lederhausen said. “So our confidence is improved by that. We know we can definitely beat some of these teams.”
NU has competed against the top 12 teams of the field on 26 occasions but has played with the lower-seeded 11 teams only 12 times. Earlier this season, Lederhausen pointed out that since Fletcher became coach, the team has been invited more often to events with higher-ranked squads.
“We’ve been invited and able to play tournaments with better-ranked teams,” Lederhausen said. “If you play well and beat teams that are ranked better than you, your own ranking goes up, so that’s important in bettering our own ranking.”
Given that rankings consider the quality of opposition, playing in strong fields has been important to the Cats in securing their 37th-place position. The familiarity of the high-ranked teams will also help this week, Fletcher said.
“There are certainly teams we’ve competed with and against during the year,” Fletcher said. “There’s a comfort level there that we can take them on and have the possibility of beating them.”
Lederhausen said making nationals would be a big achievement for NU, especially given the 10-year abesnce from the tournament. Rebecca Lederhausen, freshman Lauren Weaver, sophomores Kylie Fuller and Alex Lederhausen and junior Kelsey Lindenschmidt will travel to the tournament, which employs the 5-count-4 system where the best four scores are counted each day.
“I like our chances,” Fletcher said. “We have a decent chance of advancing. The girls are playing well and I feel we are very well prepared going into it. I like where we are going into it.”
