By the middle of preseason, there’s usually little to look forward to. The women’s basketball team, however, had one otherwise-unexciting date circled with a thick red marker.

The Maroons traveled up to Evanston Saturday morning to train with and scrimmage against the Northwestern varsity women’s basketball team.

The team played three regulation halves against the Wildcats, who went 5–25 last year. Chicago came out strong, outscoring Northwestern by five in the first half of play. While the Division I women overwhelmed the Maroons as the day went on, winning by nine in the second half and earning a blowout in the third, the Chicago coaching staff was still heartened by the squad’s effort and determination against an opponent that had them outclassed.

“I thought we were very aggressive. In no way, shape, or form did we back down,” head coach Aaron Roussell said. “I completely forgot who we were playing, and I think [the players] did too.”

The team hopes this experience will help build confidence and highlight some trouble spots as preseason wears on. The Maroons still hope to make major improvements before the November 19 season opener against St. Norbert at the Midway Classic.