Nine months after winning a share of the regular season Big Ten title and missing a tournament berth due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Northwestern Women's Basketball is finally back in business, tipping off their season on Thursday against Eastern Illinois. NBN's sports section took to discussion to discuss the expectations they had for the team.

Coop Daley:

All right, so 2020 Women’s Basketball season preview. Just to recap last year, as we always do, Northwestern, like a lot of programs, got bit by the COVID-19 pandemic, [and] did not get to host tournament games at Welsh-Ryan as many thought they would. As a result, they lost great seasons from Abi Scheid and Abbie Wolf. But they return this year with one of the best squads in the Big 10, I would argue; Lindsey Pulliam is already getting nods for Player of the Year, Veronica Burton last year was Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and the team is just running deep, already with new talent. I would say that, on the surface level, this team looks like they could make some noise again this year.

Jordan Landsberg:

I agree, and I concur with Lindsey Pulliam already getting national attention for Player of the Year buzz, and also Veronica Burton. I think she's really really underrated in almost every aspect of her game. I mean, she did win the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, but I feel like she's very, very underrated, and people don't realize how much of a threat she is in almost every area: she can score, she can rebound. I think she had 50% more assists than the next person on the team. So she is just a beast on the court, for lack of a better phrase.

Justine Banbury:

I agree with what you guys are saying. I think any critics might say that losing Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid could pose some challenges for the team moving forward, but I actually think we're gonna see a really strong show out in a different way. I think the team's gonna look a little different than it did last year, but it's still gonna be really, really strong. One thing I think that's going to be different is that people have expectations this year. Coming off of the 2018-2019 season, we weren't terrible, but we didn't have as good of a season as we were hoping, so nobody was really expecting us to climb up the rankings and be 11th and heading into March Madness before that got canceled. So this year, people are kind of looking toward the Wildcats [to see] what we're going to be looking like in the beginning. I think that's a positive thing, and also brings different challenges for the team in the beginning.

Jordan Landsberg:

I think that they're hungry to prove to the country that they're a legit program. They're coming off of that heartbreaking loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. You're right about that, they do have higher expectations this year, and I think they have higher expectations for themselves as well.

Justine Banbury:

It's like shifting out of that underdog mentality, and just kind of defending the idea that Northwestern’s program deserves some respect, you know?

Coop Daley:

Yeah, and to that point, do you think the ’Cats know they have a target painted on their back this year, as kind of one of the — not top dog, but — “top cat” per se to knock off the top of the Big Ten?

Justine Banbury:

I'm in the Big Ten — I think they probably do, but I think it's a matter of if they care. From the sense I get, the team seems pretty unbothered by any press or any rumors or anything. I think that's like a lot of our programs, but they're just doing their thing, and the results speak for themselves. It's not going to be a team that's going to get really flashy or anything, they're just going to keep working and see what happens. That's my opinion, but what do you guys think?

Jordan Landsberg:

I think Lindsey Pulliam has that potential to catapult them into the next level in the Big Ten, and to really bring out the best in everyone. So I think that they are good — I agree with what you're saying. And I think that Lindsey Pulliam is just like a unanimous star in the Big Ten, and they have the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten, Veronica Burton. They just have many pieces that they will put together this year. I think they’re coming off with that confidence from last year to propel them to the top of the conference, I think.

Justine Banbury:

Well, something I wanted to ask you guys about too is, we talked a lot about the conference strength for the men’s team at least. Looking at the rankings, Northwestern is 17th right now, and Indiana is above them, Maryland is above them.

Jordan Landsberg:

Northwestern is 17, Michigan is 19. Ohio State is 18, Indiana's 15, and Maryland is 14.

Coop Daley:

Yeah, and just going through the schedule already, I would say there’s going to be some very interesting games. But two games that you are going to want to circle on your calendar, if you're a Wildcat fan, is on Jan. 24, Indiana at home, and Feb. 28, Maryland, also at home. So I think the ’Cats kind of lucked out a little bit in the sense that they will only have to play these two contenders twice, and both of these games are going to be at home, so that is a little nice. I think everyone's going to be paying close attention to those games. If the ’Cats win the regular season title this year, those are the games that are really gonna decide it. And then also just to circle others: Jan. 3rd, Michigan at home, and then the final game, at Michigan on either March 5 or 6.

Jordan Landsberg:

I was gonna say, that is probably my favorite and circled on my calendar, the Jan. 3 game versus Michigan at home. I think they're hungry for revenge, and that's definitely a game that they want to win as a team. I think they also have one or two Big Ten games before that, so it's at the start of conference play. I think that coming off of some easier games, they'll have that potential they want, and will need, to play Michigan. I think that will be a fun game to watch to see how they play, and to see if it's a revenge game for them; I feel like when people come back to play teams that eliminated them, they always have that newfound drive.

Justine Banbury:

I don't know if Michigan is really going to be considered our biggest rival or the biggest obstacle to overcome. Last year, we played them three times, and we won two of the three, and for that last game, we had been on a winning streak of — I think it was nine or 10 games — leading up to that loss to Michigan, so I almost feel like it was a bit of an like a fluke loss, maybe we weren't feeling it that night or something. But if you look at our other two games, we beat them by almost 10 both times.

Jordan Landsberg:

You're right about that. I'm just excited for it, because I think that they'll just play a lot harder than they might have versus some of the earlier opponents, just because they have that loss against them. They may not pose a huge threat, but it's still just something that I'm sure as a team they want to win.

Justine Banbury:

I actually think our bigger opponent is gonna be Maryland, just because they're ranked higher than us in the preseason, we lost to them last year and they were one of our only regular season losses last year. There just seems to be a lot of hype around Maryland in the Big Ten right now.

Coop Daley:

Maryland did win a share of the regular season, and they won the tournament too. I'm not sure how much talent Maryland has returned, but if they're ranked that high currently, it's safe to assume that they have a decent program cooking out there. Justine, you brought up that we did lose to Maryland in the regular season, but we also won a game against them at home. So I think that's what makes this home game on Feb. 28 super interesting. That’s going to be an interesting stretch.

Justine Banbury:

I think that's a good point. It won't be easy to repeat the success we had last year, but I don't think it's not feasible. I don't think losing the seniors we lost or just looking at our strength of schedule means we can't win the Big Ten again, I just think it means we're going to have to win a couple key games to get there.

Coop Daley:

True. So now, I kind of want to move on a little bit and talk about the ’Cats’ offensive approach, because I think on defense, we both know it's the best backcourt in the Big Ten: Pulliam and Burton. But on offense, one of the things that I think people kind of looked at last year is when Pulliam goes cold — and sometimes she does — usually what would happen is that she’s used as a decoy. Abi Scheid would go to the point, and five times out of 10, it would be a three, or even if it doesn't, Wolf’s right under the basket to pick it up. So you don't have those two seniors next year. So when Pulliam’s not having a great shooting night, who are you guys looking at to pick up the pace?

Jordan Landsberg:

I think that Jordan Hamilton can really step into that position. Last year, she sat out with injury and played a bit as the season went on and then she came back. But I think as a senior this year, she can be a spark plug for everyone else. She may not be the best shooter, or the best defender — even though she had 30 steals last year — she may not be the top dog on the team, but having her presence can help others shine, and help others boost their game and step up. She may not be that player to do all of it, but behind the scenes, she’s the one that's really stepping up for the team.

Justine Banbury:

I also wanted to bring up our best recruit we've gotten in I don’t know how many years. We’ve got five star recruit Anna Morris, who was ranked 46th in the country. So obviously, she's gonna be coming in. She's super young, I don't know how much playing time she's gonna get initially, maybe not this year, maybe not the season, but looking ahead, she's going to be able to replace Scheid in getting points and rebounds. I think she's 6’4,’’ so in addition to just being a big presence on the court, I think she's going to be huge on offense for us.

Jordan Landsberg:

Yeah, she’s very physical. She was New Jersey's Gatorade Player of the Year for Volleyball last year which is pretty cool, so she’s definitely physical. I saw that McKeown compared her shooting stroke to that of Abi Scheid, so if she is anything like the sharpshooter that Abi was, then that would be a huge bonus to the team, especially as they just lost her last year. So let's hope that she can put it together and become a source of scoring, something to lighten the load of Lindsey Pulliam and another offensive threat.

Coop Daley:

I agree. I think one player that we haven't talked about too much is Sydney Wood. Sydney Wood received an honorable mention in the Big Ten for her work last year, she is a decent scorer from two, she nails all her shots pretty much. I think just in the front court presence, that's going to be someone to watch out for.

Jordan Landsberg:

Sydney Wood has just improved each of the last two years, and hopefully this year, she can step up and help fill the voids that will be missed from the two seniors. The only thing that kind of worries me about her is her free throw percentage; she can sometimes get a little cold on offense as well, and I saw that her free throw percentage last year was 57%, which is really not that great. I think if she can close up the weaknesses in her game … which I heard that she did, I heard she spent a lot of the off-season improving her shot and trying to become a bigger scoring threat, so we'll see what happens with that. She's proven that she's capable of improving herself, and wanting to get better, then that would be huge for the team.

Justine Banbury:

You know, we have an older team. We did lose some seniors, but we have a strong junior class, and some seniors who may not have had as much of an opportunity to play because of our strong class that graduated. So while we did lose people, we actually had a longer bench than people realized. I think there's going to be some people who get a chance to shine when they haven't had a chance in earlier seasons, if that makes sense.

Jordan Landsberg:

Just like what Justine said, having a junior class to go along with those seniors, who will probably and hopefully step up into those leadership positions, then they can maybe hopefully go deep and far this year.

Coop Daley:

I agree with that. I think there's no doubt that Joe McKeown is one of the greatest coaches in this program's history, if not Northwestern history. I think he got a lot of accolades last year, he was Big Ten Coach of the Year. Do you think he's got a plan for this team to play in a “COVID world” where the arenas are going to be empty, they're going to be playing against teams after no exhibitions … Do you think they're going to be ready to adjust to these difficult situations?

Jordan Landsberg:

I do for two reasons. One, all the players on the team and all the coaches are very, very smart people. I think they will do everything that they can to avoid anything, and I think that they know what they can do to help themselves. I mean, look at the football team: there's just tons of guys on the team, and knock on wood, they haven't had any problems thus far. There's a lot of trust within the program, so I think the intelligence and the trust that they have for each other will hopefully be a factor into this. I also think that, at least from the couple of games that I saw last year, and from talking with Abi Scheid, there really weren't that many people that came to support them. It kind of grew as the season went on, but they're pretty used to playing with somewhat empty crowds, so I don't think that that will be anything tough for them. Now playing away at other schools, I know that the other Big Ten schools do get bigger crowds for their women's basketball, [so] I think not having to worry about the opposing fan base will be really big for them.

Justine Banbury:

I think we talked about this a bit with like the other sports, football, men's basketball and just how it goes along with being a sport at Northwestern; there's not as big of a fanbase as other Big Ten schools, so if anyone is the most prepared, I think it's Northwestern athletes. But I also think a good thing is just everyone is in the same boat; it's not just our games who aren't allowed to have fans, it’s everybody. So whether we're more prepared than other schools or not, it doesn't really matter, because everyone's getting the same treatment. I think you guys are right, I think we are definitely prepared for it, just because our team doesn't really seem to be fazed by that as much, but I guess we can see.

Coop Daley:

I think they're gonna adjust well, I think that they do a very good job adjusting. So just to kind of wrap this up here: knock on wood, but if everything goes well, there's going to be about 22 games this season, 20 conference, 2 non-conference. So just a prediction, and what you’re gonna be watching out for. For me, I’m saying 19-3, and I'd say the player I would watch out for is obviously Lindsey Pulliam; I think this is going to be the year of her career. I think she’s going to be “the one” this year, and I think this is going to be the year where she becomes like 2018 LeBron James, and just carry a team to absolute dominance. Unlike LeBron though, this team will actually have stars.

Jordan Landsberg:

I agree, I was gonna say 19-3 as well. I think that a game or two that might cause them some trouble. I'm kind of worried about Feb. 14 at Ohio State; they're a ranked team still playing away, so it's not their home court, deep into the season, we don't know how fatigued or tired they might be. So that kind of worries me, as does Feb. 28, versus Maryland. That's at the end of the season. And it looks like both teams are going to be really good this year, fighting for the Big Ten title. So that's a game that could be really good, but I'm worried about it. So I would say 19-3 as well.

Justine Banbury:

I'm gonna say 18-4, just because I don't want to be the third person to say 19-3, and nobody's perfect. As much as I believe in the team, I think it might take a second to transition away from leaning on the two seniors who graduated and were very important to the team. I would say someone to watch out for, Lindsey's an obvious one, but Veronica as well. I also want to look out for people who are going to get more playing time now, like hopefully if Lauryn [Satterwhite] isn't hurt — she's been hurt the past three years, but I think she's healthy right now — she could have an impact. I think Jordan Hamilton can have an impact, and just some of the younger players who are juniors now are going to get a chance to step up. I think that'll be interesting to watch.

Coop Daley:

I agree, and fingers crossed, they can repeat their success, and that everything goes well.