Women’s basketball player reviews: Grace Sullivan

Northwestern’s highest returning scorer will have her work cut out for her next season.

The latest of Inside NU’s women’s basketball player reviews features Grace Sullivan, perhaps the most crucial returning piece on the squad for 2025-26.

Grace Sullivan came to Northwestern this season as a transfer from Bucknell, and the junior forward made an immediate impact in Evanston. Sullivan averaged 10.1 points per game on an efficient 50.6% from the field on top of 3.8 rebounds, all while playing just 23.1 minutes per game.

Sullivan is the leading returning scorer on Northwestern’s roster for the 2025-26 season with the departures of Caileigh Walsh, Melannie Daley and Taylor Williams. The Antioch, Illinois native has one year of eligibility remaining, and she will no doubt be counted on heavily by head coach Joe McKeown during his final year in Evanston. Sullivan started in just 15 of the 27 games she appeared in during her junior season. Expect that number to rise to a clean 27 out of 27 next year.

The Good

Sullivan was an efficient and reliable scorer for the ‘Cats, touching double figures 17 times, including in nine of Northwestern’s 16 games in the Big Ten. Her best stretch of the season came in late January into early February. Sullivan led the ‘Cats in scoring with 18 points during a BRUTAL loss to No. 24 Minnesota at home, and she went on to score 10 or more points in each of her next three games, including against No. 16 Michigan State. Michigan State and Minnesota ranked seventh and eight, respectively, in the conference in points per game, and the Spartans ranked third in the conference with 4.8 blocks per game. That success against the upper echelon of Big Ten defenses (Minnesota was the worst shot-blocking team in the conference, but the point still stands) is huge in projecting Sullivan’s impact as one of Northwestern’s first options on offense next year.

She took over an early December game against Cornell, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds in a 67-54 ‘Cats win. Her defensive prowess stood out in that one as well — she put a kid on the floor with a thunderous block in the fourth quarter. Sullivan also had four blocks against Minnesota.

Offensively, Sullivan got most of her points in the mid-range and at the rim, and she showed a propensity to finish through contact in the post throughout conference play. She also showed an ability to score in transition with a quick release at the cup and solid speed for a forward standing at 6’4.

The Bad

Sullivan had a couple of defensive lapses that contributed to Northwestern blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter against Minnesota. With the score tied at 80 and 1:40 to play, Sullivan got caught helping too high on a pick-and-roll, leaving Minnesota’s Niamya Holloway wide open in the paint to take the lead. Northwestern was defending with four on that possession as Walsh was slow to get back in transition, but Sullivan has to recognize the numbers here and stay low, especially as Minnesota finished conference play as one of the three worst three-point shooting teams in the conference.

The defensive critiques do feel like picking nits a little bit, as Sullivan’s presence on the inside helped Northwestern block the third-most shots in the Big Ten last season. Expect her 0.7 blocks per game to rise in 2025-26 — she’s for sure the early favorite to lead Northwestern in that category.

Also not fair of me to include the one highlight clip in ‘The Bad’ section, but Northwestern women’s basketball on X never got Sullivan right, and I don’t have the same talent for chopping up film as Inside NU’s Eliav Brooks Rubin. If you have the time, watch her Big Ten Network highlights from Northwestern’s games against Minnesota and Cornell. Sullivan is a strong and efficient scorer whose talents were under-utilized on this nine-win team.

Offensively, I’d have liked to see a little more aggression from Sullivan, as she was the only double-digit scorer for Northwestern to shoot over 50% from the field. Again, picking nits a little, but her 64.3% free throw percentage is lower than what you would like from a player that makes her living in the post with a buttery mid-range jump shot.

The Bottom Line

After that Minnesota loss, McKeown raved about Sullivan in an otherwise somber postgame press conference.

“We’re really excited to have her in our program. We are lucky that she has another year,” he said. “She’s got a chance to be an All-Big Ten player.”

Anyone who follows Northwestern women’s hooper knows that McKeown has a tendency to exaggerate. If the McKeown press conferences are anything to go by, Lauren Trumpy will be the best player in the conference in 2025-26.

Yet that all-conference ceiling has to be the hope for Sullivan next year. Northwestern lost a ton of talent this offseason — Kyla Jones’ graduation means the ‘Cats will be without four of its five leading scorers — and there isn’t all that much scoring experience behind Sullivan. Casey Harter showed flashes in her sophomore season, but she scored just 6.8 points per game on 39.7% shooting from the field. McKeown will undoubtedly bring in some transfers for his swan song, but a lot of the offensive weight will fall on Sullivan’s shoulders.

The player we saw against Minnesota and Cornell — and for flashes of conference play — is up for it. With a year of Big Ten experience under her belt and another offseason to develop, Sullivan’s ceiling is high.