Come Saturday at 7:35 p.m., the NIU women’s basketball team will begin their 1988-89 season in Norfolk, Va., against Old Dominion, a team the Huskies will look to beat en route to the start of a winning season.

Last year, the Lady Monarchs earned a spot in the NCAA tournament after finishing the season with a 17-12 record. However, a loss to Rutgers ended any hopes ODU had of making a run at the top spot.

The atmosphere around the Huskie women’s basketball office has been positive since Friday night when NIU knocked off the Sweden National Team 89-79. The victory over Solna enables the basketball team to enter the season with a positive frame of mind.

“We know that this is going to be a really tough opener for us,” said Albright, who is about to start her fifth season as the Huskie taskmaster. “They (ODU) are one of the schools you talk about when you talk women’s basketball, as far as tradition.”

Junior Kelly Lyons will be the player the Huskies have to stop. Lyons led the ODU team in points per game last season with a 17.4 average, while putting together a 6.6 rebounds-per-game average.

NIU will look to Carol Owens to lead the Huskies into battle. The 6-foot-3 junior was a force to be reckoned with in the game against Solna. Owens scored 29 points and had 10 rebounds, one assist, four blocked shots and three steals to make her night complete, while also drawing praise from Solna coach Tomas Bergstrom.

“They (NIU) had outstanding inside play from No. 31 (Owens), the tall one. She was good,” Bergstrom said.

One aspect Albright said the Huskies need to work on is their transition defense. Solna kept NIU running much of the game, and the Huskies realized the transition was lacking.

“I sense a real confidence,” Albright said. “I don’t think it’s a fake confidence. It’s a growing up confidence. Solna was a great team. It’s not like we brought in some scrub team.”

The Lady Monarchs are led by head coach Wendy Larry who is in her second season at ODU. In her five years as a head coach, Larry has compiled a 66-43 overall record.

NIU finished last season with a 14-14 record, while going 6-1 in the last seven games. The Huskies’ last game of the season was an inspirational 95-74 win over Notre Dame, which gave the Huskies a 6-4 ledger in the North Star Conference.