Name: Janae Poisson

Position: Guard

Hometown: Matteson, Illinois.

Age basketball started: 11 years old

Favorite sports team: NIU Huskies

Athlete role model: Kobe Bryant

“His mentality and his mental toughness is something I have never seen before,” Poisson said. “He is just always forward and never backward, with a next play mentality.”

Court strengths: Scoring and 3-point shooting

“I definitely like to score the basketball, just like everyone else on the team,” Poisson said. “I also really like to get players involved, not just scoring myself, but trying to get other people open. I grew up as a point guard, so coming here was kind of a change to just being a scorer. Shooting threes and getting lay ups is probably my main thing. It’s always a pretty good feeling, especially when you’re at home and the whole crowd erupts.”

Court weaknesses: Mid-range shooting

“Just having the next play mentality and letting the last shot go, and moving on from it, is definitely something I want to improve on,” Poisson said.

Favorite teammate: Myia Starks

“We got really close when we came in together,” Poisson said. “We play the same position, so we go at each other every day in practice. [We] get really competitive, but then off the court we just laugh about it all the time. She is just a really good person.”

Interesting fact: Nutella obsession

“I love Nutella,” Poisson said. “I have an obsession with it. I had to literally take a break from it. My parents wouldn’t let me eat Nutella for a while because I was not even using bread, I would just eat it out of the jar. I just really like Nutella.”

Best part about playing for NIU: My teammates.

“I have never been on a team where it’s like no cliques, no drama and everyone is just super nice to each other,” Poisson said. “The team chemistry is definitely my favorite part of being here, along with all the laughs that we have.”

Poisson appeared in 32 games for the Huskies during her freshman year in 2016-17. She was named to the Mid-American Conference’s All-Freshman team after averaging 8.4 points per game and scoring in double figures 12 times last season. Poisson shot .427 from the field and .353 from beyond the arc.

For the 2017-18 season, Poisson said her main goal is to help the team reach the Mid-American Conference Championship in any way possible but this time with a different outcome where the team fell 82-71 Mar. 11 in the MAC Championship game against the Toledo Rockets.

Poisson displays a ton of selflessness, as she is completely open to whatever role she is put into.

“Whatever role Coach Carlsen puts me in, that is what I want to do this year,” Poisson said.

Head Coach Lisa Carlsen said Poisson looks good so far this season and has already improved from her freshman year in 2016-17.

“I think you see it in her consistency, as far as being confident with the basketball in her hands,” Carlsen said. “She has gotten better from a rebounding standpoint, gotten better from a defensive standpoint, and so it is those other things that aren’t as evident that I think you see in the evolution of young kid’s games.”

The Huskies will open their season 6 p.m. Friday against Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois.