Jane Albright-Dieterle push a panic button?
Never. Even after her Northern Illinois women`s basketball team got off to a 4-5 start this season.
”I knew we were a young squad,” she said last week, her Huskies riding a three-game losing streak. ”We`re learning with each game.”
They`ve apparently learned their lessons well. Saturday, Northern opened its North Star Conference season with a 94-85 victory over Cleveland State behind junior Cindy Conner`s 32 points. Monday night, the Huskies toppled Akron 101-67 behind Angela Lockett`s 20 points to improve to 6-5, 2-0.
”When Lisa Foss and Tammy Hinchee (who helped lead NIU to an NCAA appearance two seasons ago) were sophomores (1987-88), they went through this,” Albright-Dieterle said of her young team`s recent skid (road losses to Manhattan, De Paul and Utah) after it had upset sixth-ranked Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 16 in De Kalb.
”Everybody was thinking we had grown up after beating Stephen F.”
Albright-Dieterle knew better. She also knows that as her youthful squad continues to mature, better days are ahead.
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Cast your ballot: The Mid-Continent Conference is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an All-Decade men`s basketball team. NIU, beginning its second season in the league, has two players on the 18-player ballot-guard Donald Whiteside and forward Donnell Thomas.
Thomas concluded his career last season as the school`s all-time leading scorer with 1,853 points. Whiteside ranks fourth on the Huskies` all-time assist list with 331 and 11th in scoring with 1,155 points.
Other players on the ballot: Harry Bell of Valparaiso; Tony Bennett of Wisconsin-Green Bay; Lee Campbell, Winston Garland and Kelby Stuckey of Southwest Missouri State; John Collins, Kevin Duckworth and Jay Taylor of Eastern Illinois; Joe Dykstra of Western Illinois; Brian Hill, Derrick Johnson and Craig Lathen of Illinois-Chicago; Randy Kraayenbrink and Jason Reese of Northern Iowa; and Ken ”Mouse” McFadden and Clinton Ransey of Cleveland State.