Northwestern University Athletics
A Look Back at 2009-10
5/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 24, 2010
Thirteen years.
That's the last time Northwestern women's basketball team handed in a winning season.
That's the last time it had been since a postseason appearance.
And, that's the last time current NU freshman Kendall Hackney could indicate her age with one hand.
Hackney, one of three freshmen to sign on as part of second-year head coach Joe McKeown's first recruiting class, recognized the potential to impact the program in just one year.
"Coming to NU as a freshman, I knew the coaches and their history of success and I knew the program was on the verge of change," Hackney said. "Here, I had the opportunity to change the culture of women's basketball at Northwestern. This past season was a really big step for the program."
How big? Northwestern's improvement from last season to this year was tied for the 10th best turnaround in the nation and ranked fourth among BCS schools. In winning percentage comparison, the Wildcats' above-.500 mark (.545) was a 31.2 percent improvement from last season. And the difference was evident from the opening tip at Toledo on November 13.
A 73-64 victory over the Rockets raised the curtain on the 2009-10 campaign and set the tone for the nonconference slate, as the Wildcats went on to compile a 9-2 record, including several marquee victories. With three wins in its pocket, Northwestern toppled then-No. 15 DePaul, 59-55, marking the first time since January 23, 2005 the Wildcats defeated a ranked opponent. For junior All-Big Ten honoree Amy Jaeschke, it was the most meaningful win of the season.
"Personally, the DePaul game was the highlight of the season for me," the 6-5 center recalled. "That was my favorite just because it signified where we were as a program overall because each time we made a measurable improvement. We were blown out my freshman year, made it close last year and finally beat them this season."
Two games later, NU took down Purdue, 60-58, in the conference opener. The triumph sparked a six-game winning streak including a solid 53-50 win over Big XII foe Kansas State at the always-hostile Bramlage Arena.
An exceptional display of three-point marksmanship by junior Beth Marshall headlined the Wildcats' next contest, a 67-55 triumph over Arkansas on Dec. 17. The Fishers, Ind., native went 8-of-10 from beyond the arc, climbing to the top of Northwestern's single-game three-pointers made list and turning in what would eventually be the eighth-best (tied) performance nationally in triples made in one game.
A pair of victories over Chicagoland rivals Chicago State (85-64) and Loyola (Chi), 85-58, ushered in the meat of the Big Ten season, which began with a road visit to Ann Arbor.
Like Northwestern, the Wolverines were also in the process of rebuilding their program after having been near the bottom of the league standings for the past five years. Behind Jaeschke's 14 points and 10 rebounds, the 'Cats picked up their first road conference victory since 2005-06 and also composed their first back-to-back Big Ten wins since the 1995-96 season (counting the Purdue victory back on Dec. 6).
Hackney was tabbed the conference's Freshman of the Week for her efforts against Michigan and Loyola (Chi), marking the first time a Wildcat earned the award. It was not the first time a Wildcat merited league laurels, however. Jaeschke had been named Player of the Week earlier in the season after guiding NU to victories over IPFW and SIU-Edwardsville. Against SIU-Edwardsville, Jaeschke topped her own single-game blocks record, swatting nine Saluki offerings. Against the Wolverines, Jaeschke recorded three blocks, one of the 24 times over the course of the season she rejected three or more.
Jaeschke recalls the feeling on the team following the victory at Ann Arbor. "When we started off 9-2 in the nonconference and we were doing really well, but there was a little part of me who said, `we still haven't played in the Big Ten.' But, when we won at Michigan, I thought, this was going to be different. This was going to be a great year."
But, as the next four games proved, it wasn't going to be easy to have a great year. Northwestern dropped contests to a quartet of league foes, beginning with then-No. 6 Ohio State, followed by Penn State, and two challenging road games at Minnesota and at Purdue.
The 'Cats avenged their previous shortcoming in Minneapolis with a 61-60 triumph over the Gophers on Jan 17 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Two more road challenges, which capped off a four road-game stint over a five-game period, led the Wildcats to Indiana and Iowa. Despite valiant efforts, NU fell to both the Hoosiers and the Hawkeyes before coming up short against Michigan State by a four-point margin, 56-52.
But Northwestern regrouped and won four of its next six contests, starting with a huge, come-from-behind 68-62 victory at Wisconsin on Jan. 31. Hackney spearheaded the 'Cats' comeback, dumping in 14 of her 16 points in the second half. The Wildcats' 68 points was the second-most scored against Wisconsin on the season, and it was just the third overall loss in the Kohl Center for the Badgers to date.
The Wildcats parlayed that positive momentum into a 64-60 home victory over Michigan, marking the first time NU had swept a regular-season Big Ten series since the 1998-99 campaign. Back-to-back losses at both Illinois and Michigan State preceded consecutive wins over Indiana (78-73 OT) and Iowa (72-66).
McKeown was impressed with the Wildcats' effort in the challenging second part of the season. "To go from a program that had finished last in the Big Ten every year to winning 18 games and being able to knock off teams that played in the NCAA Tournament like Wisconsin, DePaul and Iowa, I think it's a great accomplishment."
Even greater things were in store for the Wildcats, who finished the regular season with a 16-14 overall mark, the first winning season since 1996. On March 15, Northwestern was selected to participate in its first postseason event in 13 years, a WNIT bid which paired the Wildcats with Atlantic 10 foe Duquesne. Behind six three-pointers from Marshall, NU cruised to a 79-72 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Next up was another A-10 member--St. Bonaventure--but this time, the Wildcats were required to travel to Olean, N.Y. Despite a raucous home crowd, Northwestern held on for a 66-62 triumph and a berth into the WNIT round of 16. Yet another "first" awaited the 'Cats. The win pitted NU with a familiar foe, conference rival Michigan, for a record setting fourth time in one season.
Michigan had yet to leave the friendly confines of Crisler Arena the entire tournament, and in the end prevailed, 65-44, on March 25.
When reflecting on the entire season, McKeown saw many reasons to be optimistic about the future of Wildcat basketball.
"To be able to play in the postseason in our second year as a coaching staff and being together with this team, I thought it was a great accomplishment for everyone involved, McKeown said. "I feel really good about the way we played in February and March this year and I think it sets us up well for the future. I also hope the experience of the WNIT gave our players a taste of what it's like to win a couple games, to play in March and allowed them to set their goals to be part of the NCAA Tournament in their career at Northwestern."
If Hackney has anything to say about it, the Wildcats will be playing in March again sooner rather than later. "We did the best we could this season and we had a huge impact on the school," she said. "I think students get a little more involved and a little more excited about women's basketball now. That influences me, and it's been great to see that support. Being part of the successful team has been great. From here out we aren't going to expect anything less than a winning season."
