Monday night turned out to be an evening of streaks that started at the free-throw line and ended up in the win column.

Kris Weis came up big at the free-throw line. The senior hit 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to extend her free-throw shooting streak to 32 straight. That feat broke the previous NIU women’s record of 31 in a row set back during the 1981-82 season by Jill Sawin and ties the men’s record of 32 consecutive by Willie Hanson in 1967. As a team, the Huskies, who moved up to No. 24 in the latest AP Poll, hit 29-of-34 en route to their ninth-straight victory and fourth consecutive win in the North Star Conference.

“Records are just fun,” Huskie head coach Jane Albright said. “She (Weis) stuck them right in. They all did a great, great job from the line—I’m real pleased with the win.”

Behind Carol Owens’ 30-point effort, NIU (14-2) scored 61 first-half points and went on to finish with 110, their third- highest points scored total, while giving up 94 to the Crusaders of Valparaiso.

“I wasn’t real pleased with our defense,” Albright said. “But, the main thing is that we won the game.”

The offensive side is where the Huskies dominated the game. All five of the NIU starters scored in double-figures. Hinchee and Weis netted 17 points each, Lisa Foss was a bucket behind with 15 and Denise Dove came up with 13 points. The Huskies out-rebounded the Crusaders 47-36. Hinchee led the team in rebounding (13) with Owens close behind, while Owens also added 4 steals in what Albright called the “Carol Owens’ Show.”

“They weren’t a real pyhsical team,” Owens said. “I got a lot of turn-around jumpers and my shots were falling.”

“The post people did a real nice job controlling the boards,” Albright said. “That was the best game Carol Owens has had since Christmas.”

Valparaiso dropped to 3-9 with the loss, but turned out to be no slouch. NIU had leads of 22-points twice only to see the Crusaders battle back to within 11 at 1:12 remaining in the contest, 105-94. Valparaiso was led by Debbie Bolen, a transfer from Purdue University, who scored 27 points in the losing cause.