On a cold December night, a small crowd of 800 people watched the NIU women’s basketball team fall 62-50

to Santa Clara.

The Huskies tallied a franchise-worst 12 points in the first half and dropped to a 2-8 record. A season that once held high expectations suddenly seemed like a copy of 1999-2000, when NIU went just 6-22.

“I was really nervous,” said sophomore guard Kristan Knake of the 2-8 start. “It started to look like last year. I was kind of scared that it was going to happen this year, but then we just sat and talked about what we needed to do and things got better.”

Two months and 17 games later, the Huskies find themselves with a winning record in the Mid-American Conference and just two games away from clinching a winning season for the first time since 1995. More importantly, NIU (13-14, 9-5 MAC West) has newfound respect in the MAC, and Wednesday’s 75-65 bashing of Ball State proved it.

Before the season, the Huskies boasted raw, young talent with the potential to be a good team. The maturing process started early.

Since starting out the year 2-9, the Huskies have gone 11-5, with big wins at Eastern Michigan (68-56) and Buffalo (63-55). Players finally have started to pick up their defense, yielding just 61.8 points per game for the season.

But only two months ago, turnovers and having to learn coach Carol Hammerle’s difficult defensive system plagued the team. The Huskies executed at times, as they did in a 58-43 victory over California-Irvine, but couldn’t find any consistency. Cal-Irvine paid the Huskies back by pounding them 66-48 on Dec. 16. NIU turned the ball over 20 times.

“We were disappointed,” said senior center Mickey Johnson of the team’s early season performance. “It just made us want to work harder.”

“It was very frustrating knowing that we could do better than what we were doing,” Knake said.

Then, changes in the starting lineup triggered a spark in the Huskies. Knake temporarily moved to point guard and the team’s confidence seemed to change. The Huskies put together a pair of four-game winning streaks, and currently sit in third place in the MAC West after being picked to finish fifth in the MAC preseason poll. The Huskies had confidence in their abilities throughout the season and believed that confidence carried them out of the slump.

“We never gave up on those expectations,” said sophomore forward Kim Boeding. “We never really started thinking the season was going to be a bad season. We always kept our goals high and always kept a positive outlook.”

Players who have talent and continually improve have keyed NIU’s success. Promising recruit Jennifer Youngblood exceeded expectations, and seemed to

improve every game. Freshman Lindsay Secrest developed into a threat from the outside, and Boeding helped Knake lead the team. Now drawing serious

consideration for MAC Freshman of the Year honors, Youngblood has made her most important contribution in drawing attention away from Johnson, currently leading the Huskies in rebounds (7.7) and ranking second in scoring 11.6. When Johnson and Youngblood click, NIU has possibly the deadliest duo in the conference. They combined for 52 points in a win against Ohio and dropped 20 points apiece on Ball State on Wednesday.

Johnson noted the respect given by opposing teams during postgame handshakes. In the past, teams would look down on NIU and walk by shaking hands but making no eye contact.

Not Wednesday night.

“Last year, we were just another team in the MAC,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t like, ‘That’s the Northern Illinois women’s basketball team.’ [We were] just another team that would add to their winning record. This year they actually look at us and respect us as players.”

While the hard work has brought success, a great deal of the credit goes to Hammerle. The veteran coach’s knowledge of the game and her patented defensive system has earned her respect as one of the MAC’s best coaches. Her players respect her and the decisions she makes. Without Hammerle’s patience with such a young team, this squad may not have started to reach its potential. Hammerle inherited the rebuilding program when she arrived at NIU in 1998 and helped shape the team into a MAC contender.

“Let me tell you, it’s been harder than I ever imagined,” Hammerle said. “The first year we won our last four games. I think we were 10-16. Last year we were just devastated by injuries. Last year was a hard year. This year has been a pleasant surprise.”

Now, the Huskies have clinched a first-round home game for the first time in Hammerle’s four years as coach, and they have a chance for a first-round bye in the MAC tournament if they win their two remaining regular season games and Toledo defeats Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Either way, the foundation for the future has been set.