While most students were relaxing over break, NIU’s women’s basketball team was hard at work against tough competition, but its efforts paid off.

The Huskies compiled a 9-1 record over break with the only loss coming from No.10-ranked Stephen F. Austin. Currently, NIU is on a seven-game winning streak and stands at 12-2 (2-0 in the North Star Conference).

NIU’s first game of the break was a 110-93 triumph over the University of Illinois. Senior Carol Owens set a new NIU record for women’s basketball by tallying 41 points. Owens tied Tammy Hinchee (22 points) for most rebounds with 11. Lisa Foss notched 22 points and Kris Weis picked up 16.

When NIU played host to Southern Illinois on Dec. 18, the Huskies were looking for revenge from last year’s 71-63 loss to SIU-C. NIU found it with a decisive 91-68 crunching over the Salukis.

Owens led all scorers with 33 points and 15 rebounds. Hinchee and Foss scored 20 and 12, respectively.

The Huskies headed west to Seattle, Wash. for the Seattle Times/University of Washington Husky Classic, but the final results in the first game did not please NIU.

Stephen F. Austin put a chill on the Huskie offense with a 90-65 beating. NIU shot just 30.3 percent (23-76) for the game while SFA fired in 70.4 percent in the first half and 61.4 percent (35-57) for the game.

Connie Cole paced SFA with 24 points which included six points in an opening 12-0 SFA lead. Hinchee put the Huskies on the board with a three-pointer 5:31 into the game.

“For a shooting team, not scoring in the first six minutes panics them,” said NIU coach Jane Albright. “(SFA) came out and controlled the tempo. They established their territory very early and we were ice cold. SFA kept us out of our game and was able to execute their offense.

“I think the assist total (18-4 in favor of the Lady Jacks) shows we were out of our game plan. We played very hard and we gave a good effort, but the cold shooting really hurt. For a team like us that lives and dies with shooting, we got killed,” added Albright.

Foss led NIU with 21 points followed by Owens’ 17 and Hinchee’s 13.

The loss placed the Huskies up against the University of Utah on the following day for a game that went down to the wire.

With just seconds left in regulation, NIU was down by three, but thanks to a three-pointer by Denise Dove at the buzzer the Huskies sent the game to overtime. NIU dominated the overtime and pulled out a 95-91 victory over Utah for a third-place finish in the tournament.

Owens and Foss paced the Huskies with 23 points. Weis snagged 19 and Dove added 13.

NIU traveled to California State-Fullerton on Dec. 29 and finished with a 94-80 rout. Foss went on a tear with 26 points which included 17 in the first 20 minutes. Owens tallied 24 points and Weis added 17. Hinchee (14 points) led with 11 rebounds.

“I thought we played a good defensive game, especially on their post player (Miller),” said Albright. “We did a nice job with team defense, stopping her. This is the second team in a row we’ve beaten that went to the NCAA (Tournament) a year ago.”

The Huskies ended their west coast stint and began the new year with a hard-fought 99-79 win over San Diego State on Jan. 3.

Hinchee led the pack with an impressive 35 points and 11 rebounds. Hinchee sank 14-of-18 field goals and swooshed seven-of-eight free throws.

“Tammy Hinchee had one of the best games of her career in terms of defense, rebounding, and shooting,” said Albright. “Kris Weis also turned in a nice game and all our perimeter people did a good job of getting the ball inside.”

Although NIU led 46-38 at halftime, the Lady Aztecs pulled within three, 50-47. NIU followed that with an 18-3 surge over the next four minutes which kept the Huskies on safe ground for the rest of the game.

Foss added 21 points, Weis notched 17 and Owens added 12 while Dove tallied nine assists.

NIU visited the University of Nebraska on Jan. 6 and pulled out a 93-69 victory in front of 1,243 fans. All five starters finished in double figures. Hinchee led her team with 23, followed by Foss with 21 and Dove with 15. Weis finshed with 13 and Owens added 10 with 15 rebounds.

The Huskies ended their road trip on a high note with a 116-84 mauling over Creighton. In the game, NIU set several school records, received double figures from all five starters and points from all but one player.

NIU’s 116 points broke the old record of 112 set back on March 3, 1988 against Valparaiso. The Huskies 105 field goal attempts edged an earlier school record of 102 set on Dec. 6, 1980 against North Central College. In addition, the 49 field goals matched the record achieved against University of Illinois-Chicago on Jan. 11, 1988.

“We got a lot of quality play from a lot of people. our starting five got us into the flow of the game and after that, we just stayed in control,” said Albright. “Obviously, balance was a key, but we also did the little things, like hitting free throws (15 of 19), picking up steals (19) and dishing off for assists (28).

“Creighton chose to run with us, so it was an extremely uptempo game. It’s a good sign when you can play that style and only have 12 turnovers. Individually, Tammy finished a great road trip. She has dominated for us in scoring and rebounding.”

On the day, Hinchee netted 26 points, 16 rebounds, one assist, two blocks and three steals. Earlier in the day she was named the North Star Conference Player of the Week.

Foss had 18 points and eight rebounds, Owens snagged 17 points and eight rebounds, Weis added 17 points and Dove racked up 15 points. Tracey Mondek chipped in six points with eight rebounds. Toby Meeks was the only Huskie not to score, but she had three assists and one steal.

NIU returned home on Jan. 11 to wallop conference foe University of Akron 108-78. Foss and Hinchee led all scorers with 26. Owens notched 22 (12 rebounds) and Weis tallied 19. The Huskies outrebounded the Lady Zips 53-30.

NIU proceeded to raise its conference record to 2-0 after a 96-48 destruction over Cleveland State on Jan. 13 at the Chick Evans Field House.

The Huskies held CSU’s leading scorer to nine points while Hinchee had 25 along with 11 rebounds. Owens added 16 points, Foss tallied 14 and Weis had 10.

NIU will travel to DePaul University on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. match-up. The Blue Demons are last year’s defending champions of the North Star Conference. Bus rides are available for $8 which includes the ticket. Contact the Huskie ticket office 753-0353 for details.