\u200bA lack of reliable bench depth seemed to be an Achilles heel for the Wildcats in what was yet another disappointing season. In Joe McKeown\u2019s last year as head coach, he gave only six or seven players reliable minutes, choosing instead to stick with his top dogs. Yet, NU\u2019s reserves flashed promise at times this season, and the returning players can look to build on what they accomplished.<\/p>\n
\u200bThroughout the first three quarters of the season, Righeimer made her biggest impact in the locker room and on the scout team. She saw minutes sparingly, eclipsing over 10 just once before February. However, in a game against USC in which starter Tayla Thomas played just six minutes, McKeown turned to Righeimer as a bench option, and she didn\u2019t let the opportunity go to waste. In her 18 minutes played, Righeimer scored six points and grabbed six rebounds \u2013 a bundle of energy that gave the \u2018Cats a spark. Despite losing the game by 18 points, Northwestern outscored USC by seven in the second half, thanks in part to Righeimer\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n
From there, Righeimer saw consistent playing time over the final six games, even scoring 18 points against Penn State. If Righeimer stays in Evanston and can extend her late-season surge into next year, then she should be an important piece of the next Wildcat rotation.<\/p>\n
Turner transferred to Northwestern after four years of scarce minutes at TCU, looking for one last chance to contribute at the highest level of collegiate basketball. Although her stats don\u2019t jump off the page, averaging less than two points and rebounds per game, Turner played in 28 of NU\u2019s 29 games and consistently provided a steady frontcourt option off the bench. She averaged 10 minutes per game and helped the \u2018Cats in the rebounding department and on the defensive end. Turner may have envisioned more for herself when she decided to transfer to Evanston, but she ended her college career playing meaningful minutes for a Big Ten team.<\/p>\n
Keswick appeared in 16 games for Northwestern before seeing her season derailed due to injury. Her magnum opus of the season came against Cleveland State when she knocked down six three-pointers, tied for the third most in a single game in program history. Her 18 points helped the \u2018Cats sneak out an important non-conference victory over the Vikings.<\/p>\n
She appeared in several other games throughout the season, but no other performance came close to her record-setting night in November. If the sharp-shooter can regain full health and ability, she has a bright future ahead.<\/p>\n
The first year didn\u2019t see much prolonged action throughout the season, but Hodgens appeared in 16 games before missing the final six due to injury. Hodgens\u2019 biggest impact came in a game against George Washington when the \u2018Cats were without Grace Sullivan. Hodgens played the role of sixth man and accumulated a season-high 29 minutes. In the game, she scored 12 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and recorded 2 steals. NU lost the game, but Hodgens\u2019 effort kept the Wildcats competitive.<\/p>\n
A year after suffering a long-term injury, any contributions Wang made were to be seen as a major plus. Thus, Wang\u2019s 14 appearances, including a start against George Washington, greatly added to the Wildcat depth. She didn\u2019t have any breakthrough performances, but her height and rebounding proved valuable at times throughout the year for Northwestern.\u200b<\/p>\n
Although she didn\u2019t receive plentiful minutes, the first-year from Spain saw action in 20 games. L\u00f3pez garnered a season-high 20 minutes in Northwestern\u2019s blowout loss to Michigan State, scoring nine points and dishing out four assists. McKeown gave her several opportunities throughout the season, but turnover and shooting issues limited L\u00f3pez\u2019s impact. However, the crafty guard came across the pond with a history of winning in Spain, so L\u00f3pez should be heard from very soon.<\/p>\n
Another first-year from Spain, Moreno similarly didn\u2019t see much playing time throughout the season. She saw action in just a handful of games but has the potential to be a meaningful player down the line.<\/p>\n
While Mutumbo only appeared in just nine games, her veteran leadership made its mark on and off the court. The junior consistently showed up for her teammates and tallied a couple of points and rebounds on the year. Mutombo represents what it means to be a Wildcat.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe All-American lacrosse player appeared in just four games this season and missed much of it with an injury, but she created a great Northwestern story. After four historic years for NU lacrosse, the 5-foot-6 White took her talents to the basketball court and sought to instill a culture of winning among her teammates. Although her impact with the orange ball didn\u2019t come close to her impact with a lacrosse ball, White will be remembered for her unconditional commitment to the \u2018Cats.<\/p>\n
\u200bTrumpy didn\u2019t see any playing time during her four years in the program, but she embodied the spirit and character that McKeown worked to instill in Northwestern women\u2019s basketball. Trumpy was a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree in her last two seasons and made the Academic All-Big Ten team in her first two.<\/p>\n
With Carla Berube recently hired as Northwestern\u2019s new head coach, the inflows and outflows of the current roster are uncertain, but several pieces from this season\u2019s team could be poised for a breakout year in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u200bA lack of reliable bench depth seemed to be an Achilles heel for the Wildcats in what was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,49983],"class_list":["post-684246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-northwestern-womens-basketball"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116307423344379901","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}