Basketball players know how difficult it can be to first achieve success, and then sustain it; but NIU women's basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen says she's confident that her squad can build on last season's accomplishments...because they've been brought together off the court, as well as on it.
NIU ended its season with an appearance in the Mid-American Conference title game, and followed that up with its first post-season appearance since 1995 as they played in the Women's NIT. They now face a season which pits them against difficult in-state competition including Bradley and Loyola -- a total of six teams from Illinois in the early stages of the schedule. On top of that, they have the usual opponents in their conference schedule, including Central Michigan -- the one team Carlsen has yet to defeat.
But more important than the on-court quest is the bonding which takes place off the court; Carlsen says Northern Illinois has always evoked a special team ethos, one which stretches back to the Jane Albright era. The team also came together to help two of their players, both of whom joined Carlsen at Rotary's September 27th meeting -- Renee Sladek, who lost a parent early in her NIU career; and Paulina Castro, who was diagnosed late last year with Hodgkin's lymphoma...but is now cancer-free.
The team opens its season at home on November 4th against Benedictine; they also have two scheduled tournaments, at Texas-San Antonio at Thanksgiving time, and at the Puerto Rico Classic in December -- although due to Hurricane Maria, the latter is now in question. MAC play begins December 30th at Miami of Ohio.