For the first time this season, the NIU women’s basketball team will be part of a tournament for the Seaton Hall Tournament.

The Huskies (1-1) will begin the weekend by facing the University of Maryland Baltimore County (1-1) at 7 p.m. tonight.

NIU head coach Carol Owens has her team focused on playing the Retrievers before letting their minds go on to the other competition this week.

“You need to put them in situations where they play back-to-back games,” Owens said. “It helps you learn to play one game at a time.”

Owens said she will stick with the starting lineup she used against Western Illinois this past weekend. The coach is mixing veteran leadership, with seniors Becky Smith and Shari’ Welton, along with young talent in the forms of center Ebony Ellis and guard Marke Freeman.

Senior Jessie Wilcox will come off the bench for the Huskies again this weekend. In 27 minutes against the Westerwinds, the guard led NIU in scoring with 16 points.

Following tonight’s game, NIU will play Wagner (2-0) and host Seaton Hall (2-0) Saturday.

Owens hopes that by playing these three different teams this weekend, NIU will be able to gain experience that can transfer into conference play.

“At this juncture, there are a lot of things we have to put in,” Owens said. “We need to execute on our offense. We need to get to know each other.”