Confidence-building win is good timing for Naperville North
Wednesday was good timing for a feel-good girls basketball victory for Naperville North.
The Huskies showed improved toughness and aggressiveness on the court to earn a 44-26 DuPage Valley Conference victory against visiting Neuqua Valley a day before playing archrival Naperville Central on Thursday night.
"It meant a lot," said Huskies freshman guard Nikki Kwilosz, who will play in the cross-town rivalry against Naperville Central for the first time. "We knew that we kind of need to turn it on. This is our chance to pick it up from here."
A 12-0 first-half run gave the Huskies (7-7, 2-4) the lead for good, with a little bit of a cushion to boot. They led 27-16 at halftime, then were ready for the Wildcats when they tried to battle back early in the third quarter.
"They did get a little run," Huskies senior Morgan Lockridge said. "I think we were only up by 10. And I think that buffer from that run we went on really helped us. I think we just got kind of a shellshock kind of thing. We just needed a timeout."
The timeout allowed the Huskies to regroup, building their lead to 14 points going to the fourth quarter.
"We had so much energy. We haven't really had that in the past. We tried to really care. We tried to play for each other more and we tried to tried to cover each other," Lockridge said.
Coach Jason Dycus enjoyed watching his players be more aggressive.
"We talked about just living in the moment. We've been a little bit too pass-happy and playing a little bit passive. Tonight we were aggressive. Our transition game was awesome tonight," Dycus said.
Meanwhile, a tough season continued for the Wildcats (6-11, 2-5), who played without guard Megan Callahan again Wednesday.
"It's the same problem we've had all year," Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. "We can keep regurgitating the same lines over and over again. It's just a matter of getting through the season and seeing where we can end up to be. That's really what it comes down to. Nobody's pouting. Everybody's cheering. So there's good things going on."
Junior Jasmine Walker led the Wildcats in scoring with 8 points.
Junior guard Lauren Platou led both teams in scoring with 14 points. Sadie Jurkovic, the Huskies' 6-foot-4 center, added 8 points.
"Tonight we had contributions from a ton of people," Lockridge said.
"I'm very proud of the way we played tonight," Dycus said, "but we need to be ready for a big challenge tomorrow night."