She may have gone the way of the portal, but her contributions to the team won’t be forgotten.
Up next on our Northwestern women’s basketball players reviews: Melannie Daley. Although the senior guard and leader will now be leaving Evanston for good in hopes of finding a home elsewhere via the transfer portal, we can’t forget the impact she’s made over these last four years.
The Good
Where to start? Daley was a relatively notable success story over her four years at Northwestern, especially amidst a significant decline in the overall success of head coach Joe McKeown and the women’s basketball program in that same time span.
After taking a huge step forward last season as a junior — she averaged 13.3 points on 49% shooting from the field — Daley took a slight backseat as fellow senior Caileigh Walsh provided the main offensive attack for the ‘Cats. Nonetheless, Daley was still efficient: she put up 11.7 points per game on 47% shooting, alongside 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists, both career-highs.
It was obvious Daley had been continuing to work on her craft over the offseason, as, despite a crowded backcourt, she still carved out a role not just as a leader but as a bucket-getter than McKeown could go to, especially down the stretch.
While Walsh took on the post, Daley was responsible for the perimeter: after all, her classic off-the-dribble jumpers gave way to her aptly-named nickname “midrange Mel.” Throughout the year, the one thing consistent for Daley was a pull-up jumper, with a hand in her face or not.
The Bad
Although not inherently bad, it was slightly disappointing to never see Daley take that next jump that many ‘Cats fans were wishful for after an impressive 2023-24 campaign. After shooting up from 4.6 to 13.3 points per game, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect another jump as Daley was viewed as the main offensive threat among the guard rotation.
But the arrival and breakout performances from sophomore Casey Harter and Brown transfer Kyla Jones gave way to a more competitive backcourt than expected. As a result, the trio of guards, alongside junior point guard Caroline Lau who held down the fort as one of the Big Ten’s best passers, made it difficult for Daley to fully emerge as a number one option.
Furthermore, Daley never really got to the point of comfortability beyond that mid-range mark. Although she was money from inside the arc, the Hastings, New York native strayed away from the deep ball. Though she took the most threes out of any season in her NU career — nine — she clearly lacked confidence in her shot from beyond the arc, which hurt her game as opposing defenders knew they could sag off the three-point line as needed.
The Bottom Line
It was far from a perfect year, of course. After all, it isn’t easy to take too much good away from another disappointing season in which the ‘Cats were unable to reach 10 wins. But Daley still got hers, and even if she wasn’t able to ascend into the role of leading scorer, she was still definitely an important presence for a squad that needed direction.
Her leadership both on and off the court was something the Wildcats needed throughout the year, and played a big part not just in her development, but in carving out roles for some of the younger guards, too. Now getting looks from high-major programs throughout the country, we can’t help but thank Daley for her contributions to the ‘Cats these past four years as well.