Sunday, March 24, 2024

Heartbroken Northwestern Women’s Basketball Team Honors Player Who Committed Suicide

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The Northwestern women’s basketball team suffered an unspeakable loss this week.

So you have to feel good about the Wildcats earning an 80-67 victory Saturday against Indiana in the first game since Northwestern sophomore Jordan Hankins committed suicide, reportedly by hanging herself in her dorm room.

Hankins was a 19-year-old sophomore from Indianapolis and student in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

The memories were everywhere at Welsh-Ryan Arena, as fans and players wore “Fly High J” shirts in her honor. Teammate Amber Jamison wore Hankins’ No. 5 jersey.

Point guard Ashley Deary had this to say after Saturday’s game: “Throughout the whole game we felt like we wanted to embody her spirit and her aggressiveness and her confidence. … Just play with her swagger. That’s what she would have done. She would just go at it. I just wanted to make her proud.”

Coach Joe McKeown said: “There’s no playbook. Everything I’m telling you is off the top of my head. We’re going to lean on each other.”

This column from Christine Brennan of USA Today about her interaction with the Northwestern women’s basketball team is worth a read.

Her high school alma mater, Lawrence North, wore these shirts in her memory this week:

The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Please call if you’re ever in need.

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