DeKALB — It was a historic night Wednesday in Mount Pleasant, Mich. as NIU redshirt senior forward Courtney Woods eclipsed 2,000 career-points. Woods scored 18 points in the Huskies’ 66-60 loss against the Central Michigan University Chippewas to reach the feat.

Woods is the third NIU women’s basketball player to reach 2,000 points and is currently in third place for points scored in program history with 2,016. She’s also NIU’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 141.

“Being able to get to 2000 is quite a big accomplishment,” Head Coach Lisa Carlsen said. “There have been some great scorers historically that have come through this program. It’s a tribute to her consistent work on her craft and understanding on how teams are going to defend her. Then being able to adapt accordingly and being able to put up big numbers.”

Coming out of St.Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Australia, Woods had already accomplished a lot, having been ranked as a top-20 prospect by the Australian media. In high school she won three straight state titles and played for Queensland’s State Under-20 basketball team.

In the summer of 2015 Woods came to NIU and in her early days as a Huskie, served as a key bench player. In her first season, she averaged 10.3 points and led the team in 3-point field goals, starting in 11 games.

In her sophomore year, Woods became a full-time starter, and with increased minutes, her production spiked to a new level. Woods averaged 16.6 points and knocked down 39.5%% of her 3-pointers that season.

She was also named to the Mid American Conference All-Tournament team in the 2016-17 season.

Woods continued to increase her production in her junior season, leading the MAC in points per game, averaging 22.1 points. She won MAC West Division player of the Week four times. 

After her junior season, Woods was recognized with First-Team All-MAC honors and also achieved Academic All-MAC honors. 

Tragedy struck Woods in her senior season as she tore her ACL Dec. 2, 2018 in a game against the University of Nevada at the Lady Grizz Classic in Missoula, Montana.

After receiving a medical redshirt, Woods returned to the court for her final season. She is leading NIU in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game and averages 2.85 assists in 20 games.

Carlsen also cites how proud of Woods’ growth of leadership 

“Anytime you have a player around for five years, you see the growth from a leadership standpoint in the way she interacts with her teammates and the understanding that it takes eververybody, for any one person to have this individual accomplishment,” Carlsen said. “ I think [Woods] has grown a lot in that area, maybe early on it was a little bit about me getting mine, but she’s definitely not that player now.” 

Woods is not done yet with breaking program records, as she chases Carol Owens for second place in points scored all time trailing by 86 points with eight games remaining.