Jane Albright-Dieterle, usually one to joke and laugh at these gatherings even after a loss, sat at Tuesday’s press conference and answered questions in a cheerless, straightforward manner.

The NIU women’s basketball head coach had just watched her team lose 75-66 to DePaul at Chick Evans Field House and she was stressed.

“The first foul we got was with 10 minutes to go in the (first) half,” Albright-Dieterle said. “And then I think we did the opposite in the second half and fouled them real quickly.

“With all the knowledge I have about basketball, I don’t understand how you can play that kind of defense for 20 minutes and not foul and then turn around and foul.

“They could not have changed their offense, from the first half to the second half, much,” Albright-Dieterle said. “(DePaul Head Coach) Doug Bruno is a smart man, but I don’t think he could go in there and completely redo everything. Maybe it’s youth, maybe it’s lack of concentration. All I know is that when we foul, we lose.”

Albright-Dieterle was also upset at NIU’s defending of DePaul’s drives to the bucket.

“I think, all and all, we couldn’t defend their penetration to the basket,” Albright-Dieterle said. “It seemed to be exactly what they kept doing—attacking our guards, taking the ball right at us. We did a poor job of defending that penetration.”

The Huskies (10-8, 5-1) will try to break their two-game losing streak when they return to North Star Conference action Thursday (7:30 p.m.) at Cleveland State (5-15, 2-4).

NIU beat CSU 94-85 Jan. 11 at the field house. Since that game, the Vikings have gone 2-3, 2-2, and are currently on a two-game winning streak.

“We’re playing better basketball,” first-year CSU Head Coach Loretta Hummeldorf said. “They’ve played hard day in, day out.”

The Vikings are led by forward Lanette Taylor. The 6-0 senior is averaging 19.5 points a game, which is fourth in the conference, and 12.5 rebounds a game, which is first in the conference and fourth in the country.

“Lanette Taylor is playing very well,” Hummeldorf said. “She’s always been a good rebounder. She’s starting to produce more like we expect from a senior.”