This week, we asked our writers to give us their boldest predictions for the winter sports ahead – and we at NBN Sports are giving a whole lot of love to the women's basketball team, for good reason. Joe McKeown’s squad has established itself as a defensive powerhouse with strong all-around scoring contributions up and down the roster. Here’s what we make of them, plus a few other teams.
Women’s basketball will earn an NCAA Tournament bid
By Andy Brown
The women’s basketball team will go 14-4 in conference on the way to its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1997 and the seventh appearance in program history. Coach Joe McKeown’s team is still kind of young, and games like Sunday’s turnover-riddled loss at Ohio State are a product of that. But the talent on this team should overwhelm any worries ‘Cats fans might be having after that defeat. Two freshmen and a sophomore led last year’s WNIT-qualifying team: Nia Coffey, Christen Inman and Maggie Lyon. That Terrific Trio is a year older and a year wiser now, and primed to wreak havoc on the Big Ten and, subsequently, the nation.
Wrestling will finish the season ranked in the Top 10
By Austin Siegel
The “Mat ‘Cats” (as nobody but me calls them) have gotten off to a strong start this season, currently ranked No. 18 in the country. Led by 2014 NCAA Champion Jason Tsirtsis, Northwestern rolled through its non-conference slate before dropping a tough road contest to Minnesota before Christmas. The ‘Cats have a chance to make up some ground against 20th-ranked Wisconsin this Friday in a meet that could set the tone for the rest of their season. With most of the Big Ten joining Northwestern in the Top 25, the ‘Cats will have their work cut out for them, but I think they’ve got what it takes to finish the year in the top 10.
Alex Olah will lead the men’s basketball team in scoring
By Jasper Scherer
We can debate how much this really means – Tre Demps currently leads the team in scoring despite a 38.6 percent shooting mark – but there’s one indisputable truth here: Northwestern is at its best when Olah’s offensive aggressiveness comes out.
Heading into the meat of a rather tough in-conference schedule, we should expect Chris Collins and his staff to work to use that weapon more effectively, something that hasn’t been the case of late. Olah has scored on three total shots during his last three games, all of which came against Wisconsin on Sunday. That’s partly a product of his “timid” play, as Collins put it, and other parts his teammates’ inability to get him the ball in good positions. When Olah shoots eight or more times per game, he averages 13.4 points on 50.6 percent shooting. Even on his off-days, the threat of his shots when the team consistently looks his way is just as valuable as when he actually scores. Expect Olah’s usage rate to increase, and his scoring to go with it.
Women’s swimming will improve on its 2014 Big Ten finish
By Ellen Schmitz
After some polar plunges in Lake Michigan to get acclimated to Chiberia after a warm training trip in Florida, the Northwestern women's swimming and diving team will be ready to blow the rest of the Big Ten out of the water. The 'Cats have already kicked off a record-setting season, as Ellen Stello took down the oldest school record in the books at the AT&T US Winter Nationals in the 200 meter Fly, and other Wildcats were within seconds of record-setting performances. By the end of the season, this team can better its 2014 Big Ten finish and put the 'Cats comfortably in the top ten of the conference.
Women’s basketball will finish with the top ranked defense in the Big Ten and a tournament bid
By Jason Mast
The 'Cats (12-2) are off to their fastest start in ages, allowing the fewest points (55.9) in the Big Ten and putting themselves on pace for their first tourney bid since 1997. They even earned the program's first spot in the Associated Press Top 25 before Sunday's loss to Ohio State unseated them. Behind sophomores Nia Coffey, the conference's ninth-ranked rebounder, and Ashley Deary, the leading stealer, and under the team-oriented coaching of Joe McKeown, this defense can take the Cats where they haven't been in 18 years.