Northwestern entered the preseason with a good idea of who would start in its backcourt.
By the time the first exhibition came on Nov. 6, the stability the Wildcats expected was disrupted. The culprit: an upper-body injury to point guard Karly Roser that has kept the junior out of the team’s first three games. Roser had started all 60 games in her NU career entering the season, and with no other healthy point guards returning, the Cats needed an on-court leader.
Enter freshman Ashley Deary.
The Texas native has been more than an adequate replacement for Roser through three games. Deary has matched Roser’s production from last year while playing heavy minutes for the Cats. Last season, Roser averaged 6.3 assists per game, ranking second in the Big Ten, but also had about five turnovers per contest. Deary had six assists and two turnovers in each of her first two games but struggled Sunday in the victory over University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with just three assists and seven turnovers. Still, the freshman is third in the Big Ten with five assists per game.
“(Roser and Deary) are definitely different, but I wouldn’t say they’re worse or better,” sophomore Maggie Lyon said. “Ashley is really feisty. … She does a great job of distributing it and drawing defenders and kicking it out. … We really miss Karly’s strength and athleticism on rebounding.”
The one thing Deary can’t replace on the court is Roser’s leadership. Roser was named a team captain after orchestrating the offense for two seasons, and Lyon said the team misses Roser’s veteran presence on the floor. Deary admitted her biggest learning curve was figuring out how to be a leader on the court.
“I’ve had to learn how to run the team,” Deary said. “It’s different from high school to college because they expect more out of you with time, time management, what are we running, what’s open and different stuff like that.”
Deary is not the only one charged with replacing Roser. Senior La’Terria Taylor has not played many minutes this season, but she is playing some time as point guard for NU when she is on the court. The three players have completely different styles at the position, and all three have their benefits.
Roser is more of the facilitator who is comfortable feeding her teammates or hitting layups and short jumpers. Deary is also a good facilitator, but she is more confident as a shooter, having already taken more 3-pointers through three games than Roser did all last season. And then there’s Taylor, who said her job was to be more of a calming influence and help the offense run at the correct pace.
“My role is to control the offense,” Taylor said. “Control the tempo of the team, making sure everyone is where they need to be, making sure the ball keeps moving.”
Roser is still listed as day-to-day and did not practice Tuesday, so Deary will almost certainly get another start for NU when it hosts Hofstra on Wednesday. However, Roser’s leadership has shown during games through her constant communication with both Deary and Taylor. Both said Roser talks to them during timeouts or when they are on the bench and discusses what is working and other defensive tendencies to watch. This communication between the veteran and the freshman has allowed Deary to mature more quickly into a reliable option at the point.
“She’ll talk me through plays in practice, what to do and what to look for,” Deary said. “That’s really helped me grow as a point guard, so even though she’s not out there, she’s still making a contribution to the team.”
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