Northwestern University Athletics
Blinded By The Light
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 18, 2010
By Skip Myslenski
NUSports.com Special Contributor
It had, through much of this Thursday evening at Welsh-Ryan Arena, controlled its game with Duquesne in the opening round of the WNIT. But now, so suddenly it seemed, a second-half lead that had once been 15 was gone and the 'Cats women's basketball team stared starkly at a crucible.
This was its first postseason appearance in 13 years. This was just a step in the rehabilitation project begun by Joe McKeown, its coach, a mere two years ago. This was, quite obviously, a new experience for every Wildcat involved. Yet here, with 10:30 remaining and the score tied and both their hopes and immediate future under siege, their biggest stars did what stars do at moments like this. They shined brightly.
The first to step forward was Amy Jaeschke, their 6-foot-5 junior center. All through this affair she had been frustrated by the double teams the Dukes draped on her, but here she shook free in the blocks for a layup. Now, after a Duquesne miss, it was the turn of Beth Marshall, the 5-foot-5 junior point. She had been radiant all night, but eight minutes earlier, she had twisted her knee and fell to the court and hobbled off to the lockerroom. Yet here she was back and, calmly, she accepted a pass from Jaeschke and rose up in the right corner and just buried a three.
Meshia Reed, who gave the 'Cats 11 points in 23 valuable minutes off the bench, now followed another Dukes' miss with a layup, but here came Jaeschke again, this time with a block of Kelly Britcher that Marshall collected and took down the court before pulling up for a 10-footer from the right wing. Like that, as suddenly as the 'Cats had dissipated their lead, they were back up nine and on their way the 79-72 win that moved them into a second-round game with St. Bonaventure.
"With my knee, sometimes it buckles or gives," Marshall would later say about her recovery and star turn. "I just got to get up and shake it off a little bit and walk and make sure that it's strong. It felt a little weak coming back, but you've got to play with your heart, forget about your injuries for your team."
"All the momentum was going for their team when they tied it up after we'd been up by so much. So we knew we had to combat that and come back strong and hit some huge shots in a row to kind of put them away," Jaeschke said of her own star turn.
Did he anticipate his stars shining brightly when confronting the crucible, McKeown was later asked.
"I think Marshall, all year, has done that. She's made big plays all year, big shots. I'll never forget, DePaul, we go from up 10 to down six, she comes back, scores six straight points. Indiana, she makes two threes in the last (seconds). Michigan, she makes big free throws. All year, she, she just has ice water. And then Amy is first team All-Big Ten player. So she should, as a junior in the postseason going into here senior year, you expect her to be one of the premier players in this tournament."
Jaeschke was not quite that on this evening. She was constantly harassed and hacked and attended by the Dukes and went just 6-of-14 from the field while putting up 15 points and collecting a dozen rebounds. Marshall, here, was the 'Cats guiding light and, in 36 willful minutes, she went 8-of-10 overall and 6-of-7 on her three and scored 25 while handing out five assists and grabbing off a pair of steals and committing but a single turnover.
Brittany Orban also chipped in 11 for the 'Cats.
"Give credit to Northwestern," Dukes' coach Suzie McConnell-Serio later said. "They withstood every run we made. We couldn't get over the hump. They always had answers."
That, in the end, was as impressive as even Marshall's splendid performance. The 'Cats had wandered into, for them, the strange and treacherous land of the post-season. The 'Cats, after a strong start, had been staggered so badly their knees buckled and they faced the danger of going down. But the 'Cats, even with no experience inside this kind of bubbling cauldron, had righted themselves and responded with a flurry of their own and moved on to fight another night.
"I think it speaks volumes about what Coach McKeown has done here in just two years," Jaeschke would later say when asked about the significance of it all. "He's completely changed the program around and brought us to a postseason tournament. I think it's a sign of what's to come."
"Being in the postseason, for us, we think about being 10 straight years of finishing last when we took over, it's a big step just to be playing tonight, playing at home. . .," McKeown himself would say minutes later. "Hopefully it's a stepping stone for us building this program."
And what about weathering the storm, any significance to that?
"You're disappointed when you allow them back in like that," he finally said. "But you're also proud of your team for being able to come right back at them. It showed the fortitude of our team. . .(and) I learned a long time ago, in my first NCAA Tournament, I don't know, 1985, '86, in March if you win by one, that's really what matters."
