In her third year as NIU women’s golf coach, Pam Tyska is starting to see “some recruiting dreams come true.”

While the fall season will conclude this weekend with the Huskie Fall Classic at Kishwaukee Country Club Oct. 7-8, Tyska said she has noticed a vast improvement in the young squad—part of which she recruited—during its short six-tournament season.

“They’ve matured, and they’re making things happen,” Tyska said. “Instead of being timid on the course, they’re being more aggressive and taking more risks. They’re growing to be strong competitively, and they’re also growing together as a team.”

Tyska said she believes NIU “will win” the Huskie Classic title if the squad can get past Nebraska. NIU took second place in the tournament last year.

“I think we can win the Huskie Classic because we’ve been playing so well,” Tyska said. “We’ve beaten Big Ten teams we’ve never beaten before. We really want to make a statement this year.”

Tyska said the team looks forward to the Huskie Classic because they take pride in the way they run it.

“There’s a little bit more flare and a little bit more class than the other (tournaments),” Tyska said. “(The Huskies) think they’re the best. I don’t let them think that they’re any less than anybody else.”

Tyska’s plan to focus on team totals and a team concept, while trying to avoid the “animosities and jealousies” that sometimes develop within a squad, has been successful.

“(The team’s) personalities are similar, and they mesh together really well,” Tyska said.

Tyska said she noticed the team began coming together at the third tournament, the Illinois State University Redbird Invitational. NIU clinched first place with a one-stroke victory over the Missouri, a team the Huskies have never beaten.

Laura Scheibach, who was tournament medalist for the ISU invitiational, led the Huskies with two rounds of 74.

Although the team “didn’t make any power statements” at its next showing, the Lady Northern Intercollegiate at Purdue, it bounced back the following weekend to capture second place at the Lady Spartan Invitational at Michigan State.

“Our putts started falling, and our long game was good,” Tyska said.