Women’s Basketball

The words “It’s Maggie … for 3” crackled across the public address system at Welsh-Ryan Arena countless times over the last four years.

Those days are over, however, now that Lyon has graduated, and Northwestern is searching for a stable replacement to fill Lyon’s large shoes in the backcourt.

“Maggie was a great player, and I’m glad for her success, but she’s gone this year, so we’ve had to pick up where she left off,” senior guard Christen Inman said. “We have different players in that position, and I think they all bring something a little different to the game that we could use.”

When Lyon was sidelined during the Big Ten Tournament last year due to a lower body injury, coach Joe McKeown was forced to go deep into his bench. He inserted then-sophomore guard Lydia Rohde into the starting lineup, and then-freshman guard Jordan Hankins saw extended playing time as well.

Hankins averaged 3.8 points per game last season, and Rohde averaged 2.6. With Lyon — one of the best 3-point shooters in program history — gone, McKeown singled out Rohde and Hankins as showing promise for this season in terms of their outside shooting.

McKeown is also looking forward to having senior forward Lauren Douglas back after an injury that kept her out all of last season. Though Douglas stands 6-foot-2, McKeown described her as “one of the best threats in the Big Ten as a 3-point shooter.” Douglas averaged 10.1 points per game two seasons ago and was the team’s fourth-leading scorer.

Though McKeown cautioned against making bold proclamations about who would play extensively before the season, he said sophomore Amber Jamison and said freshman Byrdy Galernik had fit in well.

“I feel like they’ve adapted well to our system,” McKeown said of Galernik and the freshman class as a whole. “Now it’s just getting through the nonconference, getting opportunities for them.”

Off the court, Lyon set a high bar in terms of leadership and creating a sense of team unity. McKeown described Lyon’s departure as a loss of a “great leader and great role model for the program,” but Inman said she is confident that this year’s senior class will be able to fill Lyon’s role and carry on the tradition of strong leadership.

“We’ve been here the longest, so it’s important to make sure the younger classes understand what we have built here and to pass that tradition down to the younger classes,” Inman said.

Inman and point guard Ashley Deary will again anchor the backcourt, but the third primary guard remains unclear. Whether NU relies on one player to replace Lyon’s production or uses a cast of characters, McKeown believes the Cats have a good chance to be successful.

“The Big Ten’s going to give us some tremendous opportunities,” McKeown said. “It’s truly up to us to take advantage.”

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Twitter: @fathmarahman