DeKALB – Head coach Lisa Carlsen and NIU women’s basketball are gearing up for the 2023-2024 season with fifth-year guard Chelby Koker leading the pack.
After clinching last year’s MAC tournament, the Huskies are driven behind their experience and have their eyes set on winning the MAC.
NIU is coming off a 16-17 (8-10 MAC) season, its best since finishing 19-13 in the 2018-2019 season. Seton Hall graduate student forward A’Jah Davis – who transferred from NIU this past offseason – was a catalyst for the NIU’s gradual improvement since the 2019-2020 season, leading the team in scoring last season.
Davis played four seasons at NIU and averaged 12.7 points and 9.5 rebounds on 50.6% shooting. Notably, Davis broke the NIU record for career double-doubles with 54.
“We depended on A’Jah (Davis) last year to kind of clean everything up, ” Carlsen said. “So our rebounding approach will be a little more by committee.”
Despite losing Davis, the Huskies’ roster has remained similar to last year’s, retaining the majority of starters.
“We do return a roster with a great deal of experience,” Carlsen said. “10 out of 13 on the roster right now are upperclassmen. Six of those players started at one point last year.”
A notable returning player from the 2022-2023 season is senior guard Jayden Marable, who averaged 6.5 points (4th on team) and 3.2 rebounds last season. Marable started in 32 out of the 33 contests, averaging over 30 minutes a game.
Koker is poised to headline the lineup after finishing second to Davis in points per game last season. Koker averaged 15.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in 2022-2023.
Illinois native and graduate transfer forward Jayde Van Hyfte is a new addition from Arizona State University, who appeared in 61 games as a Sun Devil. Hyfte played two full seasons after her career at Arizona State ended with injuries.
In her last season – 2021-2022 – Van Hyfte averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds on 63.6% shooting (15 games played). Her physical play style helps fill the role at the forward position, previously held by Davis.
“She (Van Hyfte) adds depth to the forward position for us … she fits very well into what we want to do.” Carlsen said. “She loves to play defense. Her defense will definitely be present with the experience she’s had in the PAC-12 conference.”
The Huskies’ first game and home opener is an exhibition match at 6 p.m. on Saturday against Ripon College. The game will be held at the Convocation Center. Live stats will be available on SideArm Stats.
