It has been a tough war during the past month for the NIU women’s basketball team, which went 4-5 during Christmas break, but the lady cagers won an important battle Monday night against North Star Conference foe Marquette.

In defeating the Warriors 88-67 at Chick Evans Field House, NIU improved its overall record to 6-8 while upping the conference slate to 1-1.

The Huskies started off cold with their shooting game. It took NIU six minutes and 15 seconds to break a 15-15 tie score in the first 20 minutes of play, but Denise Dove kept the Huskies alive with two three-point shots along with two field goals. The Huskies worked their way through the slump and ended the first half with a 31-23 lead.

“We played our offense well, but the ball wouldn’t go in the hoop,” coach Jane Albright said of her team’s first-half action. “We worked harder when we didn’t score, because we took control of every other part of the game.”

What pleased Albright the most about the contest was that it was a team win. Gena Stubbs, who scored six points in the first half, came out strong in the second half and finished the game as leading scorer with 26 points. Albright said every player on the floor was thinking smart.

While Albright said she liked the way her team fought through its shooting slump Tuesday night, she said the team did not always play with intensity in the past month.

Although the Huskies lost more games than they won, Albright was only disappointed in the Cincinnati and Notre Dame contests. NIU lost to nationally-ranked Tennessee 103-76, but the Huskies held themselves to within three points for all but the last 12 minutes of the game. Instead of learning from its mistakes, NIU carried the loss into Cinncinnati and lost by 24 points.

“We have got to be more consistent,” Albright said. “We continue to get better, but sometimes we drop down a little bit and don’t pick ourselves up.”

The Huskies picked themselves up for the next game against Missouri and although they lost in overtime by one basket, Albright saw some positive signs. NIU shot 50 percent against the NCAA-tourney experienced team, and Albright said she thought it was a real accomplishment. The Huskies also out-rebounded their opponent.

Out in California, the Huskies split two games. They lost by 11 points to San Diego State with a 103-92 score, but NIU did not get down and came back with a win against San Diego 79-69.

The Huskies came back to the NIU campus and romped Illinois-Chicago 106-56. NIU hit the road to compete in its first conference game against the Fighting Irish, but the Huskies got themselves in trouble and lost 89-66. NIU’s Dianna Wingis was benched after she got into a fight with one of the Notre Dame players.

“There was a lot of pushing going on and Dianna got involved in something before she knew what happened,” Albright said.

Albright has not had a full bench. Albright said Dove was suspended earlier this month for two games because she broke an “official team rule,” and Nikki Vandehey is out due to illness.