DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team wrapped up its first official week of practice on Friday. The 2022-23 Huskies will host Loras in an exhibition game at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Oct. 29 before opening the season at Notre Dame on Monday, Nov. 7.
With four starters returning and four veteran transfers,
Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin),
Emma Carter (Bristol, Vt./Franklin Pierce),
Tatiana Hodges-Johnson (Des Moines, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) and
Kortney Drake (Wilton, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) added to this year's squad, head coach
Lisa Carlsen likes how the group has meshed so far.
"It's evident to me that this is a pretty veteran group," Carlsen said. "Those four transfers are all really smart players. They've played a lot of basketball. The chemistry of putting those new kids in with our returners is probably the thing that will grow the fastest in the first few weeks of practice."
Of the four starters returning, three were All-Mid-American Conference selections last season in forward
A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) and guards
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) and
Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic). Davis, a First Team All-MAC player in 2022, set NIU single-season records with 349 rebounds and 24 double-doubles. She led the MAC with 12.0 rebounds per game and was ninth in scoring at 16.6 points per game.
Poisson and Koker were All-MAC Honorable Mention selections last season. It was the third MAC postseason honor of her career after being named to the 2017 All-MAC Freshman Team and the MAC Sixth Player of the Year in 2021. Poisson led the MAC in the regular season with 2.75 three-pointers per game. She scored in double figures 23 times in 28 games with a season-high 26 in the Huskies' overtime victory over Buffalo. Poisson enters the season 66 points away from 1,000 for her career.
Koker earned her second All-MAC honor after being named to the All-MAC Second Team in 2021. The senior guard started all 16 games she played last season before suffering a season-ending injury, averaging 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. She had the first points-assists double-double of her career with 29 points and a career-high 11 assists against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 4, 2021. Koker became the 33
rd Huskie to reach 1,000 career points with her game-high 28 points in a win over Akron at the Convocation Center.
"She's done a great job from a rehab standpoint and she's playing the same way she did before the injury which is great to see," said Carlsen.
The women's basketball team will be on the court at the Convocation Center 13 times this upcoming season. Season ticket pricing begins at just $35 for general admission seating and $50 for reserved seats. NIU faculty and staff, members of the NIU Alumni Association or Varsity Club and senior citizens can purchase women's basketball season tickets for $40.
Premium courtside seats are available for this season for both men's and women's basketball, putting fans close to the action for an unmatched game experience. Courtside seats to women's basketball are $200 each which includes the cost of a season ticket plus a $150 per seat license. For more information on season tickets and courtside seats, call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
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