DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team had seven student-athletes selected to the 2020-21 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Team, the league announced Wednesday morning.
 
"I'm really proud of this group of student-athletes and the success that they've had both on the court and in the classroom," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "This program has a reputation of high academic standards because of the student-athletes that we continue to recruit into our program."
 
Five Huskies earned their first career Academic All-MAC selection. Redshirt-Junior guard Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) adds this honor for her work in the classroom with the 2021 MAC Sixth Player of the Year award she earned this season. She is one of three honorees on the Academic All-MAC Team with a 4.0 grade point average. Poisson led the MAC in three-point field goal percentage at 45.1 percent which was ninth-best in the country.
 
Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran), an All-MAC Second Team pick, also earned her first Academic All-MAC honor. Koker led NIU in scoring this past season with 21.1 points per game and led the conference in free throw shooting at 89.4 percent. Classmates A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy[Fla.]) and Grace Hunter are also on this year's Academic All-MAC Team along with redshirt-senior Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian).
 
Senior forward Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) earned her third consecutive Academic All-MAC selection. Junior Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) was named to the Academic All-MAC Team for the second time.
 
This is the fourth consecutive year that NIU has had at least six student-athletes selected to the Academic All-MAC Women's Basketball Team.
 
To qualify for the Academic All-MAC Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests scheduled or completed.
 
2020-21 NIU Women's Basketball Academic All-MAC Selections
Janae Poisson, RS-Junior, Psychology, 4.0 (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic)
Grace Hunter, Sophomore, Marketing, 3.979 (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont)
Chelby Koker, Sophomore, Health Science-Pre-Physical Therapy, 3.938 (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran)
A'Jah Davis, Sophomore, Kinesiology, 3.87 (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.])
!*Riley Blackwell, Senior, Accountancy, 3.853 (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield)
Paulina Castro, RS-Senior, Kinesiology, 3.513 (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian)
*Mikayla Brandon, Junior, Psychology, 3.466 (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais)
 
! – 2018-19 Academic All-MAC Selection
* - 2019-20 Academic All-MAC Selection
 
--NIU--