DeKalb — The women’s basketball team is hard at work, looking to improve on an injury-riddled 15-15 season.

“They are working hard from a strength and conditioning standpoint, and we do a lot in the weight room,” said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen. “From a basketball standpoint, we focus a lot on individual player development. We get four hours of them with a basketball in their hands per week in the summer, so we have them working with individual positional coaches, working on the basics of our offense and defense and acclimate the new kids a bit.”

Carlsen said a marked improvement will come from the Huskies having a healthy squad at the start of the season.

“The kids are working hard,” Carlsen said. “The players who are supposed to be getting healthy are getting healthy, and we’re excited to see everyone getting out there again.”

After losing key juniors Janae Poisson and Myia Starks to ACL tears last season, the Huskies will be back to playing full strength.

“Mikayla [Voigt] and Courtney [Woods] have been key contributors since they got here,” Carlsen said. “They are taking responsibility for what this team should look like and stand for, and they’ve taken it upon themselves to being very vocal.”

Woods, a senior, was named first team All Mid-American Conference last season, and led the team averaging 22 points per game, good for 11 in the nation and best in the MAC.

Carlsen said Woods and Voigt have been essential in helping acclimate incoming freshman and transfer students.

Voigt led the MAC in minutes played per game with 36.3, while averaging 13 points, four assists and three rebounds per game.

“The summer is the time to do it,” Carlsen said. “You are not on the floor competing; you are learning how to do things together.”

New to the team are transfers sophomore Vinisha Sherrod, who will have to sit out this season after coming over from DePaul, and junior Ninni Salmi, a graduate transfer from San Francisco.

Incoming freshman are Mikayla Brandon from Bourbonnais and Christina Britter from Dunlap.

“They have adapted really well, especially the freshmen making that tough transition from high school,” Carlsen said. ”I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Mikayla Brandon and how she’s adjusted to what we’re trying to do, and Christina Britter won’t be with us until this fall.”

Carlsen said Salmi has a great understanding of what is expected of a college athlete and brings experience to the team that can help in a lot of ways.

“I think we’re going to be a really good offensive team; that is how we’ve been built and what we hang our hat on,” Carlsen said. “The kids take a lot of pride in that and working on their individual skillset to make us a potent team. When you have McKayla and Courtney and the numbers they have put up their first few years, they are not just shooters anymore, they are effective everywhere. I expect us to be better in all facets, but I expect us to be a better offensive team that people will find hard to guard.”