NIU women’s basketball coach Jane Albright does not call her program a powerhouse. She does not call it a young team. But she does compare it to something—bamboo.

The Huskie boss explained her comparison about bamboo at Wednesday’s Media Day where local reporters listened to the growing process of Chinese bamboo while receiving an eight-inch piece of the oriental grass.

The story of Chinese bamboo parallels the NIU women’s program. First, the grass has to be planted and watered the first year. The second year it needs to be fertilized. In the bamboo’s third year, there is still no growth. When the fourth summer comes along the grass has still not grown despite more watering. Finally, the fifth year sees something drastic. Within 30 days, the bamboo shoots up 90 feet to complete its growth, Albright said.

The moral here is that the bamboo did not grow in those 30 days, it grew over a long period of time—five years. Coach Albright, now in her fifth year as coach, likens the maturing process of Chinese bamboo to her ballclub and would like to instill the story in the minds of her players and followers.

“This is the year we want to be above the ground, and we want people to see what we’ve been going through the last few years,” Albright said. “I think this year, the way our schedule is, we’re going to have a lot of opportunities to be successful.”

Last year, the Huskies finished with a .500 mark (14-14) and won six of their last seven games. The final game of the season was an inspirational 95-74 win over Notre Dame. The team’s final record in its debut season with the North Star Conference was 6-4.

This year Albright and her troops will don their new uniforms against the Belgium National Team for an exhibition on Nov. 18. The Belgium team boasts a center who stands 6-foot-6, giving NIU a challenge from the start. However, the first NCAA game for the Huskies will be a match-up against Old Dominion at Norfolk, Va.

Albright said the most exciting thing on the schedule is NIU’s 6th Annual Fastbreak Fest held at the Chick Evan’s Field House. This year’s tournament features North Carolina State, Temple, Butler and NIU.

Leading the Huskie squad into battles this year will be newly elected captains Gena Stubbs and Carol Owens. Last season Owens added quite a few titles to her resume. The junior received All-North Star Conference recognition and was a one time recipient of the NSC Player of the Week. Stubbs was also awarded the Player-of-the-Week honor and surpassed the 1,000 career-points mark.

Albright will probably have 10 players when game time comes around. The low number is a result of some unfortunate losses to the team. Toby Meeks will be a medical red-shirt for the 1988-89 season. Pam Seward is out for academic ineligibility, while Nikki Vandehey and Diana Wingis are out for personal reasons.

One of the 10 who is expected to play this year but might not be ready for the first game is Lisa Foss. Foss is still rehabilitating her knee after undergoing surgery during the summer. The junior’s condition remains to be a day-by-day situation.

The rest of the team remains healthy. Stubbbs, Owens, Tammy Hinchee, Kris Weis, Denise Lipnisky, Dee Dee Jeske and Tracy Mondek are set to go. Sophomore Denise Dove is nursing a minor injury but should be fine in a couple of days.