After finishing in sixth place last week in Las Vegas, the Huskies will look to continue their success at the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale this weekend.

The tournament will tee off 8 a.m. Sunday morning. The par 72 course is very open with a few hills.

Coach Kim Kester is looking for the team to continue to repeat its success on the greens.

“The biggest thing that we have to do is hit the greens and to keep the ball in play,” Kester said. “It’s all short game for us. If we’re doing well there we’re going to have another great tournament.”

The game plan is pretty par for the course of the season. NIU has experienced success from executing this simple game plan, and when the Huskies have executed these aspects of their game they have finished strong at tournaments.

While the team has shown great improvement this season, the improved play of junior Jenny Niemiec has been key to NIU’s spring success. Niemiec is coming off two strong showings in Arizona and Las Vegas, and her play hasn’t been unnoticed by Kester.

“She’s hitting a lot of greens,” Kester said. “She hits the ball longer than most college women golfers, so her distance helps her.”

Niemiec hasn’t been the only player improving this spring. The entire roster has started to trim off strokes from their totals dues to the hard work on and off the courses.

“The girls are working really hard at practice. We’re getting strong in the weight room,” Kester said.

The hard work and improvement has paid off for the Huskies. Two out of the first three tournaments this spring have resulted in top 10 finishes for the team. With the continued hard work, a top five finish is something Kester is looking for, as her team makes improvements on the course.

“We’re on the right path,” Kester said. “Last tournament we improved our season low by three shots, so hopefully we can continue to do that in each tournament.”