2021 was a storied year for the Wildcats. Due to the Big 10's decision, all teams in conference stayed in conference until the NCAA's. While NU played in conference they were indomitable. They destroyed their arch nemesis Maryland in back to back games in late March, then dismissed them in the Big 10 final for the 2nd time in a row without much trouble.
However--when they got to the NCAA semifinals, they were absolutely stomped and humiliated by Syracuse. I thought at the time the Wildcats were replaced by a group of imposters. They played way out of character and completely without discipline or help from the coaching staff to adjust to how closely the refs were calling the game. 5 yellow cards in the first half, 3 in the first 10 minutes, 3 to NU. It was stupefying why coach Kelly didn't make necessary adjustments. The Cats went on unrestrained in the 2nd half for 5 more yellows--and because of the 3 they incurred in the 1st half, each one of those 2nd half 5 were non-releasable. They played shorthanded for 10 minutes--one third of the 2nd half. Baffles me that they never adjusted. All the blame has to go to coach Kelly for that.
However, there were some very bright spots during 2021. Super Sophomore Erin Coykendall, in her first full season, had a great year for NU. She is a very nifty player and does a lot of things in the offensive end that make a body say Wow! multiple times during games. No mistake they gave her Selena Lasota's still warm jersey number. She is a silent and deadly assassin when it comes to setting up her teammates, or scoring a goal when the more obvious goal scoring threats are all being well defended. Erin has an amazing repertoire of moves close in to cage. She finished in the top 10 in assists and assists per game. She had an insane game vs Rutgers in the Big 10 tourney, dishing 9 assists to 7 different teammates. She will be even more deadly next year.
Lots of great players and performances during 2021 still to look back over as the early stages of Hot Stove season begins .
