NIU’s women’s basketball team began their journey toward the NCAA tournament by opening practice last week.

The defending North Star Conference champions began practicing on Oct. 15 for the season opener in late November at the University of Central Florida’s tournament. For Huskies’ head coach Jane Albright, practice has been encouraging.

“(Practice has) been going really good,” Albright said. The team is practicing two and one-half hours a day, except on Sundays—their day off, she said.

Albright said the nuances of the game, like fast breaking and learning a defensive system, are slowly being blended into practice.

But for now, the basics are being stressed. “We pretty much do a lot of fundamentals every day,” she said.

With the loss of three starters, the Huskies’ have four newcomers who will try to fill the void. Albright feels they are ready to contribute.

The newcomers look good,” Albright said. “(I’ve) been real pleased with their attitude. They add a lot to us,” she said. “I think they’ll make an immediate impact.” The newcomers will add versatility to the team, Albright said.

The Huskies top three returning players will try to guide the team with their guile. Lisa Foss, Denise Dove and Toby Meeks, all seniors, will be the backbone of the team.

Albright is impressed with the way these seniors have practiced. They’ve set “really good examples” for their teammates in practice. Albright said, “They’re working extremely hard. I’ve been pleased with them.”

The most heralded of these seniors is Foss. She was the team’s third leading scorer (19.5), and was an all-conference selection.

After watching the team practice, Albright feels they’re coming along nicely. “The first week of practice (was) a lot of fun for me,” Albright said. “They want to be as good as they can as an individual and as a team,” she said. “I’m very optimistic.”