These are exciting yet difficult days for Kristina Divjak, Northwestern’s 6-foot junior forward who is regarded by many opponents as the best pure shooter in the Big Ten.
Divjak’s jump shot is as sweet and sound as ever. Her dad and first coach Ron, a member of East Chicago Washington’s 1960 Indiana state champs, taught her to shoot as a 4th grader. She learned well.
Despite NU’s losing record, Divjak leads the Big Ten with a 22-point average and 2.9 three-pointers a game. Her shooting averages attest to her touch: .446 from the floor, .808 from the foul line, .416 from three-point range. She scored 88 points in four games to lead the Preseason NIT. The No. 2 scorer was UConn’s All American Nykesha Sales.
From a team standpoint, however, this has been a tough, frustrating season for Divjak and her teammates. Tuesday night’s 81-64 loss at home to Purdue dropped the Cats’ records to 5-12 overall and 0-5 in the Big Ten. Divjak had an off night too, settling for 17 points.
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“It has really been difficult,” said Divjak before Tuesday night’s game, “because none of us have had a lot of experience at losing. We went to the NCAA tournament the last two years, and we’re all from winning programs.”
At Lake Central High in Dyer, Ind., Divjak twice played in the state tournament final four. When her team won the title in 1994, Ron and Kristina became the first father-daughter combo to be members of Indiana high school basketball champions.
As she said, Divjak plays among women used to winning. Veterans Megan Chawansky, Amber DeWall and Mary Connolly competed in the NCAA tournament in 1996 and 1997. Freshman Dana Leonard from Glenbrook South and veterans Anne Giblin and Shannon McGarrigle from New Jersey played for state champs. Elgin High had a 63-1 conference record and finished runner-up in the state with Wildcats soph Leslie Schock as a member.
“We’re rather small,” Divjak said, “but so is Purdue. We’ve tried so many things to get untracked. When we improve in one area, such as rebounding, our turnovers go up. I really wish I knew the answer.”
A little home cooking could trigger a turnaround for coach Don Perrelli’s Wildcats. They are in a stretch where they play eight of 11 games in Welsh-Ryan Arena. A combination of a “Pack the Place” promotion plus $1 admission could help them break their women’s home attendance record of 3,412 in Friday’s 7 p.m. game against Wisconsin.
Divjak’s family, as usual, will be out in force.
“My parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins. I’d say 15 or 20 will be here,” Divjak said.
Divjak’s dad remains her shooting coach.
“My parents see all the games,” she said. “My dad calls after games. We’ve had a special relationship. I could separate being the daughter and the student.”
Road bound: After Friday night’s home showdown against second place (4-1) Penn State, Big Ten leader Illinois plays four of its next five games and six of its last nine on the road.
“Home games are an awful lot of fun,” Illini coach Theresa Grentz said, “but our team plays really well on the road. We get into a set routine on the road. And there are less distractions.”
The improvement of post players, 6-3 Alicia Sheeler and 6-5 Casey Leonhardt, has helped the Illini rise to No. 8 in both polls this week.
“In each game our post players have been better,” Grentz said. “As we build from the inside, it helps the outside as well. It’s easier to build inside-outside. This takes pressure off the shooters.”
Demons hurting: DePaul (Feb. 10) is one of the opponents to which NU will be host in its stretch of eight of 11 games at home. However, injuries have set back an already disappointing season for the (4-9) Blue Demons.
Mfon Udoka was leading the nation in rebounding last Sunday when she sustained the severe ankle injury that will sideline her indefinitely. She was hurt as DePaul fell to 0-5 in Conference USA with a loss to St. Louis.
Fuchsia Forrester, lost to the Demons almost all last year with a knee injury, is hobbling again on a bad knee. Her status is day to day. She might miss Thursday’s 4:30 p.m. home game against Southern Miss.