It is exhibition basketball time for the 1993-94 NIU women’s team and this game is truly non-conference. In fact the opposition is not even from this country.

The Czech Republic Strakonice team will bring a touch of international ball when they immigrate to Chick Evans Field House tonight.

Head coach Jane Albright-Dieterle expects the foreign team to give the Huskies a game and to be a good challenge for the start of the season.

“International ball is always quick,” she commented. “With them using their best players, we’re expecting good competition.”

The Czech team is from Stakonice, Czech and is a national select team made up of all-star-type players. The Huskies will be just their third stop of a nine-game United States tour. They lost Tuesday night 72-52 against Northern Iowa.

While the game may be just an exhibition, it is far from meaningless. This is a good way for the team to prepare for the upcoming season and polish up some of their game.

“We’re going to work on the things we’ve been working on in practice,” stated Albright-Dieterle. “That’s basically the half court and fast break parts of our game.

“I want to see what we can do inside,” she added. “I’d also like to get 60 percent of our points off of transition.”

This will be the first test to see how the projected starting five work together.

First Team All-America candidate E.C. Hill is the lone returning starter from last year’s team. The five-foot, six-inch senior guard led the team in scoring last season. She averaged 17.2 points and grabbed 4.9 rebounds per game.

She will be joined in the backcourt by 5-11 sophomore Charmonique Stallworth and 5-10 junior Leslie Pottinger. Stallworth appeared in 29 of the 30 games last year and averaged 6.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Pottinger played in all 30 and finished tied for fourth in scoring with 8.2 points per game.

The forwards will be Caryn Alexander and Angela Lockett. Alexander, a 6-foot-2-inch senior, averaged 5.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season.

Lockett (5-11) will appear in her first game after sitting out last season due to reconstructive knee surgery. Prior to her injury she led the Huskies in rebounds with an average of 8.1 per game and contributed 13.1 points per game to the offense.

Huskie fans will get a glimpse of all the players and not just the starters against the Czech team.

“There will be equal time for both the starters and the bench,” said Albright-Dieterle. “We want to make it as game-like as we can, but we don’t want to show too much.”