After starting MAC competition with a 0-2 overall record, NIU women’s basketball coach Carol Hammerle decided something had to be done.

Making a move some might question, Hammerle opted to remove the team’s leading scorer, Lindsay Secrest, from the starting lineup.

“After the Bowling Green game, I said whoever works hardest will start because practice prepares you to perform,” Hammerle said. “I talked with Lindsay when we changed the lineup. She’s such a team player, very unselfish, and it’s really a credit to her.”

Secrest didn’t mind the switch, and even likes being the sixth man, she said.

Since switching, the team has won both its MAC games and is 2-2 in conference. Ohio coach Lynn Bria didn’t expect the new lineup to make a second appearance.

“I knew she did it in the last game, but I didn’t know if she’d do it again,” Bria said. “It really helped them. They had a lot of players step up and make some shots. Any of those players can step up at any time – they’re doing it by committee.”

NIU’s “committee” included several players who aren’t as used to scoring in double digits. Freshman Kristin Wiener, who averages 5.6 point per game, scored 11 points off the bench. Junior Rachel Sillar also impressed Hammerle with her career-high 11 points, five steals and five rebounds.

“The new starting lineup has a lot of aggressiveness,” Sillar said. “Coach Hammerle and I talked before the game about letting it come to me. I think I concentrated on that and got most of my boards that way.”

Sillar started her second straight game as part of Hammerle’s revamped lineup. Alyssa Verdegan, Joi Scott and Sillar started in place of Stephanie Raymond, Secrest and Wiener.

Hammerle said she wants to make use of her team’s speed and depth off the bench. Raymond, a usual starter, played off the bench and had a career-high seven assists.

“Stephanie really makes everybody look better,” Hammerle said. “She plays as if she’s a foot taller than she is. We have a lot of weapons. We have perimeter players who can really get up the floor.”