Northwestern will hit the floor Friday night to begin what they hope is the culmination of a long rebuilding process for the women’s basketball program.
The Wildcats have steadily increased their win total over the last three years, winning double-digit games last season for the first time since the 1998-1999 season.
The program also made its first postseason appearance since 1997, advancing to the third round of the Woman’s National Invitation Tournament before falling to Michigan.
Senior center Amy Jaeschke credited the turnaround to coach Joe McKeown, who is entering his third season at the helm. The season before he was hired, Jaeschke’s freshman year, the Cats won only five games.
“Coach completely changed the culture here,” Jaeschke said. “It is now more competitive and losing isn’t acceptable.”
NU kicks off its regular season with home games on Friday night against Dartmouth and Sunday afternoon against LSU.
The Cats return four starters from last year’s squad with Jaeschke, senior guard Beth Marshall, junior forward Brittany Orban and sophomore forward Kendall Hackney. McKeown expects those four to play a big part both on and off the court.
“The obvious stuff is off the court like leadership and helping new players and younger players adjust both to college basketball and Northwestern,” McKeown said. “But on the court we expect to play our type of basketball and do the right things.”
Jaeschke is one of the most important starters returning from last year’s team. She has led the team all three years in points and rebounds, and last season finished sixth in the country with 3.2 blocks per game.
She has garnered a lot of attention this offseason, being named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team, to the watch list for the Naismith Award for the best woman’s college basketball player and as a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award.
Despite all the attention, Jaeschke has kept herself focused on the task at hand.
“Being a part of the team, you’re out there every day to make myself and my teammates better,” she said.
One of the main things NU will need to fix to take the next step is its record on the road. The Cats struggled to the tune of 2-7 away from Welsh-Ryan Arena last season in Big Ten play.
“If you want to win on the road, you have to make sure you have some depth, and more than anything you need to get some confidence,” McKeown said.
If the Cats want to find success on the road, Jaeschke suggests they play like they did in the second half of their win against Wisconsin in Madison on Jan. 31.
“We had a poor start but we came together in the second half and played as a team,” she said.
On the other hand, the Cats will have to avoid beating themselves and blowing large leads like they did against Minnesota. NU had a 16-point lead at one point in Minneapolis before losing 73-65.
“We just have to finish games on the road, and having three seniors really helps with that,” McKeown said.
Despite all the expectations, the Cats are not buying into the NCAA-or-bust way of thinking.
“Everyone’s mindset is to win the Big Ten and get to the tourney,” Hackney said. “We just need to take it one step at a time.”
The Cats hosted UW-Platteville in an exhibition match on Oct. 31 and won handily 85-30. NU was led by Orban, who scored a team-high 22 points, and junior forward Allison Mocchi, who had a team-high 10 rebounds and six assists. Jaeschke had 17 points and three rebounds in her 26 minutes of play.
“We’ve got to give people minutes and get people used to playing with each other,” McKeown said. “If someone didn’t play well then they can use it as a gauge to figure out what they need to work on.”
