Believe it or not, we’re less than a week away from basketball season, with both men’s and women’s basketball games are right around the corner. To begin our coverage of the 2021-22 coverage of the women’s team, we will preview each player on Northwestern’s roster. As opening day inches closer, we move on to sophomore Paige Mott, a forward from Philadelphia, Penn.

Who she is

Sophomore; 6-foot-1; Philadelphia, Penn.; chose Northwestern over Illinois

2020-21 Stats

16.0 minutes per game; 3.6 points per game; 0.3 assists per game; 3.4 rebounds per game; 0.6 steals per game; 0.6 blocks per game; 41.4 FG%; 0.00 3P% (attempted one three point shot); 56.3 FT%.

2020-21 Review

Prior to starting her first season with the Wildcats, it wasn’t entirely clear what role Paige Mott would play. The 6-foot-1 forward added some much needed height to the roster along with fellow freshman Anna Morris, and ended up carving out a sizable role in the front court with Morris, due in part to an injury sustained by starting center Courtney Shaw. With Abi Scheid and Abbie Wolf both gone, Mott had big shoes to fill, and she provided plenty to build upon in her second year on the team.

Once the games began, Mott’s role became more clear. In her first collegiate game ever, she recorded 12 minutes off of the bench and scored four points as the ‘Cats defeated Eastern Illinois 93-57. Her minutes continued to climb due to the aforementioned Shaw injury, and at many points, she capitalized. She recorded a career-high eight rebounds against Michigan State on Feb. 7, and just one game later, Mott set career highs in both points scored and minutes played when she scored 12 points in 33 minutes in a 16-point loss to Rutgers.

Strengths

One of Mott’s most obvious strengths is her rebounding ability and size in the front court. Mott finished fifth among all Wildcats in rebounds per game last season, trailing Veronica Burton, Lindsay Pulliam, Sydney Wood and Courtney Shaw. Pulliam is now gone, leaving a hole in the rebounding department. Expect Mott to step up and crash the boards quite often this season, especially with the potential to play a few more minutes per game.

Weaknesses

Mott’s clear weaknesses arise in the scoring column. As previously mentioned, she shot just 41.4% from the field last year and a meager 56.3% from the free throw line. She only attempted one shot from beyond the arc, and that was off target. While the sample size is very small, it’s clear that threes weren’t in Mott’s arsenal throughout the 2020-21 season. It just wasn’t her play style.

Along with scoring, there were points in time when Mott struggled with turnovers. It wasn’t a consistent issue throughout the season, but she had points in games where she was sloppy with the ball and handed it away to the opponent. In the aforementioned games against Eastern Illinois and Michigan State, she had three turnovers each.

Expectations

Overall, Mott’s expectations and impact rest largely on how much Courtney Shaw will be able to carry the load in the front court this season. With Burton, Wood, Lauryn Satterwhite and Shaw all locks to start, it is possible that the last spot could be given to Mott in some situations. However, it’s more likely that she’ll hold a key rotational spot like she did last season. With the addition of first-year front court pieces Caileigh Walsh and Mercy Ademusayo, who stand at 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-4, respectively, it’s even possible that Mott could see a reduction of minutes if she fails to perform up to standards. All in all, Mott’s minutes aren’t entirely guaranteed, but if she performs like last season, she’ll remain a key rotational piece for this year’s Northwestern team.