Two years ago, Jennifer and Jessica Youngblood walked off the floor at Geneseo High School devastated after dropping a tough 11-point sectional final loss to prep girls’ basketball power Galesburg.

But most of the devastation didn’t come from the loss.

The Youngblood sisters, also best friends, had played basketball together since grade school. In a couple of months Jessica, one year older, would head to the University of Iowa, leaving Jennifer to play without her sister for the first time. The stunned Youngbloods walked into the locker room after the game and emotions spilled out.

“I just kind of sat on the bench,” Jessica said. “It didn’t hit me until we were in the locker room that we wouldn’t play together again.”

Today, Jessica sits in the stands at Chick Evans Field House, watching her younger sister develop into one of the top freshman in the Mid-American Conference. Jennifer, at forward, leads the Huskies in rebounds at 7.6 per game and ranks second in scoring at 10.5 ppg. Her ability to adapt quickly has provided the Huskies with another potent threat at both ends of the floor, and NIU has won eight of its last 11 games.

Only a year ago, though, Jennifer had to endure a difficult season at Rock Island High School playing without her closest teammate.

Although they are a year apart, the two might as well be twins. Jennifer and Jessica both had the same friends, both shared the same love of basketball and even have a birthday in the same month. Rock Island coach Rod Leatherman knew of Jennifer’s talent before she entered high school and invited her to join the varsity squad.

There, Jessica often provided her younger sister moral support and helped her learn to play at the varsity level. The duo would continually push each other in practice, doing almost everything together, like weight-lifting, running drills and shooting around. Outside of basketball and school, the sisters talked for hours.

“When she was on the floor, she gave me confidence,” Jennifer said. “I felt a sense of security with her on the floor, knowing that she was handling the ball.”

With a game on the line, the sisters didn’t need to give each other pep talks or gather in team huddles.

“We would just look at each other and kind of know that we’ve got to play [better],” Jennifer said. “It was just kind of like I could see it in her eyes.”

With Jessica at point guard and Jennifer dominating the paint, the Youngbloods became one of the hottest duos in the Quad Cities, making headlines in several area papers. The Rocks rolled to a 24-5 record, one of the best in Rock Island history.

“They were the nucleus,” Leatherman said. “The team was built around those two.”

To add to Jennifer’s woes, the rest of the Rock Island starters joined Jessica in graduation.

“At first it was like ‘Whoa, what am I gonna do?'” Jennifer said. “It was really, really weird. I kind of felt like a piece of me was missing.”

Suddenly the weight of carrying a young team into contention for a conference title fell upon Jennifer’s shoulders. Fortunately, she already had taken care of one burden before the season started, choosing NIU over Bradley and Wisconsin-Milwaukee the previous summer. Youngblood decided to keep telling herself to move on and hoped to get accustomed to playing without Jessica.

Then Leatherman stunned Jennifer when he asked her to take her sister’s place at point guard. Jennifer, a natural power forward, had never played point guard before, but it didn’t take her long to pick it up. With added practice on her ball-handling skills, she also unveiled a new ability to hit from the perimeter. During her senior campaign, she connected on 51 percent (31 of 61) of her 3-point field goals, while hitting a sizzling 63-percent overall.

Leatherman said his young team struggled early, but by Christmas began to click, and Youngblood became the Jennifer of old. The Rocks made a repeat appearance in the sectional finals, once again falling to Galesburg. Averaging team bests of 18.3 points and 12.5 rebounds, Youngblood earned All-WBSC honors, and USA Today ranked her among the top prep players in Illinois.

In the summer of 1999, NIU coach Carol Hammerle attended a summer camp in Galesburg to scout some players. Sitting in the coaches’ row watching Rock Island’s team, she was most impressed by a 5-foot-11-inch forward.

“I introduced myself and said ‘Who is that?'” Hammerle remembered of her encounter with Leatherman. “The more she did, the more she impressed me.”

The player, of course, turned out to be Jennifer, whom Hammerle already had on her list of possible recruits. But until that summer day, she didn’t know

anything else about her.

Hammerle wasn’t sure what to expect from Jennifer, but by November, she inserted her into the Huskies’ starting lineup, where she has remained ever since.

“There’s nothing flashy about Jen,” Hammerle said. “She just goes out there and executes. You get her the ball, she’s going to find a way to score.”

Most importantly for the Huskies, Youngblood provides another inside presence to complement senior center Mickey Johnson. Last season, injuries left NIU thin in the post, allowing teams to double-team Johnson. This winter, teams no longer have that option, as Miami University found out during a 63-50 Huskies win Jan. 20.

“We couldn’t stop their post players,” Miami coach Sherri Murrell said. “I knew that coming into the game we were going to have to worry about Michelle Johnson, but I didn’t realize how good Jennifer Youngblood was as well.”

Her progress has impressed a familiar face.

“Jen improves every time I watch her,” Jessica Youngblood said. “It’s amazing. She does something new every night.”

But as Jennifer reflects on her high school career and what helped her develop her skills, she gives most of the credit to her family and Jessica.

“If she wouldn’t have been there, I don’t think I would be where I am,” Youngblood said.