2019 NCC Women's Basketball Recap

I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to write this today. But alas, North Central lost a win-or-go-home game on Saturday, and no amount of help could get them into the six team CCIW Tournament.

And thus ends another season in the history of North Central women's basketball, but before I fill out my tax paperwork and rest my voice for the spring/summer, let's look back on the season that was.

I had fairly tempered expectations coming into this year, even by my standards, considering what happened in 2017-18. But with a new coach and what previous head coach Michelle Roof had told me in that they were bringing in the best recruiting class she ever had... I had some reason for optimism. Maggie McCloskey-Bax told me the night I first met her that she felt pretty good about opening the season with a win... and open the season with a win they did.

That was it for the home non-conference slate, and was it for any semblance of an early season winning streak as the Cardinals lost tough games at Benedictine before a rough Thanksgiving tournament in Wilmington, Ohio that brought two more losses. Not even coming back home to start CCIW play was enough, as the Cardinals fell behind by 22 to an upstart Millikin team and seeing a comeback fall short. They bounced back with a nice win at Augustana, no small feat, but couldn't sustain the momentum and dropped a heartbreaker in overtime at home to North Park. Getting a quick non-conference break in up at Stevens Point, the Cardinals shot really well but dropped another tough one. This preceded the requisite trip to Wheaton to get blown out (though only by 24, for what it's worth) to close out the December portion of conference play. The Cardinals bounced back the following week with a win at Dubuque before dropping three straight to close out 2018, including a pair to regionally ranked foes in Wartburg's holiday tournament.

The resumption of conference play did little to stop the bleeding, as Carroll came in and outplayed the Cardinals in the first contest of 2019. Elmhurst continued the downward trend for North Central as the Cardinals had an awful night at the line and got blown out. The string continued for one more game as Carthage snapped its four game losing streak in Naperville in a game that wasn't as close as the final suggested. But then something happened. The Cardinals closed out the first half of conference play with a loss at Illinois Wesleyan... but only by five. Something must have triggered there, as the Cardinals went up to Waukesha and left with a win, came home to knock of Augustana a second time, then made it three in a row with a nice win at North Park. But then the injury bug bit, knocking out North Central's two exciting young freshmen and leading scorers, helping explain a 14 point loss at Millikin. But the team didn't give up, and they went up to Kenosha and, for the first time since 2006, defeated Carthage in their building. But momentum wasn't coming as cold shooting and horrid officiating resulted in Wheaton knocking off the Cardinals again, though they needed double overtime to do so. That cold stretch continued into the following Wednesday as a bad third quarter helped propel Illinois Wesleyan to a ten point win in Naperville. This put the Cardinals in win-or-go-home mode just two days ago... and Elmhurst did just enough to knock them out.

It was still a two-game improvement over 2017-18 and a decent first campaign for McCloskey-Bax. The Cardinals were in almost every game this season, and they even started to pull some games out as the year went on. But finishing the campaign with a -87 point differential in third quarters over the course of the season is going to take its toll. A lot of the other stats weren't too bad though; the Cardinals topped 30 percent from beyond the arc for the campaign, and improved on last year's weakness at the free throw line, going up six percentage points to 66.5%. There's obviously still room for improvement, especially for players who are going to get to the line next year.

On paper, this team is going to be dangerous next year. They only lose one player to graduation in Siarra O'Neill, and she only played in one game this season. There's a stable of stud freshmen who will get a year of offseason work to build upon a year of CCIW experience and help lead this team next year, though Alanna Newsome missed the final five games of the season with a knee injury, and the jury's still out on whether or not she'll need surgery and if she'll be ready for the start of next season. But the team will also be led by a nice veteran core with Maya Walls and Natali Dimitrova down low and Lyndsay Brennan in the backcourt.

Given how well this team played in the second half of CCIW play, especially with the amount of time they played down a key figure, they're going to be dangerous in 2019-20. The season ended Saturday... and I already can't wait for next year.