The countdown begins.

Including tonight’s game at Toledo, there are only 14 games left in the ‘87-88 season, and the 6-8 NIU women’s basketball team must win them all to accomplish its “win 20 games” goal.

“We have to win from here on out,” said a determined Lisa Foss, who led the Huskies with 19 points in its 71-56 victory at home over Toledo last season. “We need to start off with two in a row.”

In last year’s win over Toledo, coach Jane Albright awarded the win to NIU’s shot selection, and its ability to get good shots off of its break.

According to Albright, this season’s Rockets might ruffle some Huskie feathers with a good inside attack and a player (Kelly Savage) who shoots three-pointers at a 50-percent clip, 40 percent from the field.

But Albright said she feels confident about NIU’s team, especially after it bounced back from its loss to Notre Dame last Thursday to capture its first North Star Conference victory against Marquette (88-67) on Monday.

“It shows how much adversity a team has when they regroup after a loss,” Albright said. “The Notre Dame game showed we are still in the process of growing, but we still have our minds on what we want to do—to win 20 games.

“We’re coming off of a big win, and I think we have a different mental outlook than before.”

Albright said earlier that she was happy with the Warrior victory because it was a team win, but she also said the crowd at the home Marquette game was a plus to the Huskies. Albright said it seemed as though NIU had a sixth player on the court.

“The crowd made a big difference, and it was was a real positive sign,” Albright said.

Sophomore Tammy Hinchee, who led the Huskies with 13 rebounds, while adding 12 points to the Marquette win, agrees with Albright’s team game philosophy.

“We played good as a team (against Marquette),” said Hinchee, “so if we play team ball (against Toledo), we should play very well.”

“(Toledo) is an out-of-conference game, but at the same time it will help us prepare for conference,” Albright said.