Women’s Basketball: Poor rebounding leads to Wildcats’ first loss
Daily file photo by Sam Schumacher
Caption: Nia Coffey dribbles down the court. The junior forward played out of position at center for most of Saturday’s game against DePaul.
December 20, 2015
Women’s Basketball
Northwestern has mostly been able to overcome its weakness on the glass this season, but the Wildcats’ lack of rebounding finally caught up to them Saturday night.
The 12th-ranked Wildcats (10-1) were outrebounded 51-37 by 16th-ranked DePaul (8-4) on the way to the Cats’ first loss of the season, 77-64. The Cats were burned for 14 second-chance points compared to 4 points scored off offensive rebounds for NU.
With the loss of the team’s only true center, 6-foot-5 Alex Cohen, to graduation, rebounding was a main concern for the team entering the season. Junior forward Nia Coffey and senior forward Christen Johnson have been forced to fill in, but the team has still struggled. The Cats have been outrebounded by an average of .8 rebounds per game going into Saturday’s bout even though they have been facing mostly shorter mid-major teams.
DePaul was able to consistently out-hustle and outleap NU en route to 16 offensive rebounds. These rebounds forced the Cats to play defense for long stretches of time, and the Blue Demons were often able to hoist multiple shots per possession.
A particularly frustrating moment on the glass came for the Cats with 1:25 left in the game when NU was intentionally fouling to give itself one last chance to cut DePaul’s lead. DePaul nabbed three consecutive rebounds off missed free throws to ice the game.
Coach Joe McKeown decided to play a smaller lineup, giving sophomore guard Lydia Rohde her first career start over Johnson.
“To start in this game I thought she handled it pretty well,” McKeown said. “I thought she played with some poise then hit some big shots.”
However, the lineup change meant that Coffey was forced to play the center position for much of the game, instead of the power forward spot she has flourished in.
Also hurting NU was the absence for the third straight game of rebounding specialist and sophomore guard Maya Jonas who averaged 19 minutes and 5.5 rebounds in games she played.
Rebounding will likely continue to be an issue for the Cats as they head into their last game before Big Ten play.
Email: benjaminapelbaum2019@u.
Twitter: @benjyapelbaum
