Northern Illinois University Athletics

Head Coach Lisa Carlsen is in her 10th season in charge of the NIU women’s basketball program.

With over 20 seasons of coaching under her belt, Carlsen has an overall head coaching record of 318-301. Instilling a fast-paced style of play and working hard to engage the community, it’s fan base and alumnae, Carlsen has made a big impact on the program.

Carlsen’s teams have been recognized as one of the tops in the nation in the classroom. In 2023, NIU posted the third-highest team grade point average in the nation at 3.778 for its highest ranking in the WBCA Academic Top 25. In 2022, the Huskies had the ninth-highest team cumulative GPA in Division I at 3.681. It was the fourth consecutive year NIU was on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll, and the second in the top-10. NIU was seventh in the nation in team GPA in 2021.

NIU tied its program record in 2024 for Academic All-MAC selections with nine. The Huskies went to the MAC Tournament quarterfinals in Cleveland for the fifth time in six seasons, taking eventual champions Kent State to the wire. Jayden Marable and Brooke Stonebraker earned All-MAC honors, becoming the eighth and ninth All-MAC selections in Carlsen's tenure.

The Huskies played in a national postseason tournament for the first time in six seasons in 2022-23, earning a bid to the Women's Basketball Invitational in Lexington, Ky. Three Huskies earned postseason accolades from the MAC. Janae Poisson was named the MAC Sixth Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons, becoming the second student-athlete to earn the honor twice. A'Jah Davis earned a spot on the All-MAC First Team for the second consecutive season while Chelby Koker was placed on the All-MAC Second Team. The Huskies also had a program-record nine selections to the Academic All-MAC Team with Koker, Davis, Jayden Marable and Laura Nickel earning Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators.

NIU went back to the MAC Tournament in 2022 and finished with a 14-15 record. The Huskies had three All-MAC selections for the first time in program history in First Team forward A'Jah Davis and honorable mention guards Janae Poisson and Chelby Koker. Davis set NIU single-season records in with 338 rebounds and 23 double-doubles. NIU was the fourth seed in Cleveland that year, winning five of its last seven regular season games for its highest finish in the league since 2017. 

The Huskies reached the MAC Tournament quarterfinals in 2021, posting a record of 14-15. Led by MAC Sixth Woman of the Year Janae Poisson and All-MAC Second Team selection Chelby Koker, the Huskies went 12-12 with a 10-8 conference record. NIU led the MAC in three-point shooting at 37.5% and were second in threes per game with 9.0. On Dec. 4, 2019 the Huskies made a single-game program record 18 three-pointers in a win at Eastern Illinois.

NIU posted an 11-19 record in 2019, showing a flair for the dramatic with four wins coming in overtime. Redshirt-Senior forward Courtney Woods led NIU with 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game on her way to her second career All-MAC First Team selection. Woods finished her career as NIU's second-leading all-time career scorer with 2,216 career points and the program's all-time leader in three-pointers made (323) and career games played (130). 

The Huskies posted a 19-13 record in 2018, going 10-8 in the Mid-American Conference. NIU made the Convocation Center one of the toughest places to play in the MAC with a 13-3 record on the home floor. Senior Mikayla Voigt earned Second Team All-MAC and CoSIDA Academic All-American honors after leading NIU with 19.5 points per game and 98 made three-pointers. On Dec. 8, 2018 Voigt set NIU and MAC single-game records with 52 points and 11 made three-pointers in an 86-61 win over Western Illinois. NIU reached the MAC Tournament quarterfinals after a 70-69 win over Western Michigan in the first round at the Convocation Center. Down by one point with less than 10 seconds to play, Voigt made the game-winning layup that put the Huskies past the Broncos.

Led by the Mid-American Conference's leading scorer in First-Team All-MAC selection Courtney Woods and Honorable Mention selection Kelly Smith, NIU finished the 2017-18 season with a 15-15 record. That marked the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons that the Huskies had back-to-back seasons with a .500 win percentage or better. Woods, Smith, and Mikayla Voigt all scored their 1,000th career point during the year. Voigt was later named to the 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-District® Second-Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

After a first season that resulted in bumps and bruises from adopting a new style of play, the Huskies found their stride in Carlsen’s second season in 2016 as they advanced to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship and made its first postseason berth since 1995 with an at-large bid to Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The MAC placed an NCAA-best six teams in the tournament.

Finishing with a 21-12 record, NIU went 12-6 in the MAC to earn a first round bye in the MAC Tournament. Going a respectable 7-4 in non-conference play, the Huskies won eight of their first nine conference games as the team rallied behind Paulina Castro, who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma around Christmas.

Led by Ally Lehman, who was named First Team All-MAC and was second in MAC Player of the Year voting, NIU would overcome double-digit deficits six times during the season and finish fifth in the NCAA in scoring at 85.1 points per game.

In the team’s postseason run, the Huskies found themselves trailing defending MAC Champion Ohio by 22 points in the second quarter. NIU slowly chipped away at the Bobcats and completed the largest comeback in NCAA Postseason history to advance to its first MAC Tournament Semifinal since 2007 with a 72-71 win.

NIU broke several records during the course of the season as Courtney Woods became just the sixth player in MAC history to reach the century mark in made three-pointers (105) and Lehman set the program’s record for assists in a season (214) and in a career (538). With two triple-doubles during the season, she fell just 10 rebounds shy of becoming just the fourth player Division I basketball history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a career.

In her first season with the Huskies, NIU overcame three double-digit deficits in a game and recorded victories, the most since the 2005-06 season, and four different players averaged 10.0 or points per game, the first time since the 1989-90 season the program achieved that feat.

Northern Illinois University’s fast-paced offense scored 80-or-more points six times last season with a season-best 92 points against Miami (Ohio) at home. The team finished second in the Mid-American Conference in assists (14.7/G) and rebounds (41.4/G) last season.

In eight seasons at Lewis, Carlsen guided the Flyers to a 148-89 record, four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and two Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) championships.

“When we began the search for our next head women’s basketball coach at NIU, we were looking for someone who was the right fit to lead the resurgence of our program,” said Frazier. “Lisa Carlsen has a proven record of success, an understanding of the educational mission of our university and the integrity and values to get the job done here at NIU. I have no doubt that Lisa is the right person at the right time to lead our student-athletes and compete for championships in the years to come.”

In 2014-15, Lewis posted a 31-3 record and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Carlsen was honored as the 2015 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II National Coach of the Year. The Flyers started the season on a 23-game winning streak and spent five weeks ranked number one in the nation. Along with earning national coach of the year honors, Carlsen was also named GLVC Coach of the Year, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Women’s Collegiate Coach of the Year and WBCA Region IV Division II Coach of the Year.

Her final season at Lewis was the culmination of an outstanding three-year period during which Carlsen guided the Flyers to a 78-15 mark and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Carlsen led the Flyers to the best turnaround in the nation in Division II during the 2012-13 campaign, recording a 24-6 mark. Lewis won the GLVC East Division and Tournament championships and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Carlsen was named the GLVC Coach of the Year and was also the IBCA Women’s Collegiate Coach of the Year.

In 2013-14, Lewis went 23-6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Carlsen was named the 2014 IBCA Women’s Collegiate Co-Coach of the Year and the WBCA Region IV Division II Coach of the Year.

During her tenure with the Flyers, Carlsen mentored two All-Americans, two conference players of the year, four all-region honorees and 10 all-conference award winners. In eight seasons at Lewis, Carlsen’s program had a 100 percent graduation rate; she also served as the Senior Woman Administrator at Lewis from 2007-13.

A native of Earling, Iowa, Carlsen began her basketball coaching career at Nebraska Omaha as an assistant in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Carlsen was promoted to head coach at Nebraska Omaha prior to the 2000-01 season and led the Mavericks to postseason play in 2003, recording the program’s best finish since the 1991-92 season. In 12 seasons combined between Lewis and Nebraska Omaha, Carlsen has a career record of 184-163.

Following her tenure at Nebraska Omaha, Carlsen spent three seasons as the associate head coach at Winona State, helping guide the Warriors to a 12-win improvement before taking the reins at Lewis prior to the 2007-08 season.

Before coaching basketball, Carlsen coached both softball and volleyball collegiately. She served as the head softball coach at the College of St. Mary (Neb.) from 1994-97 and was twice named the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Carlsen then worked as an assistant volleyball coach and head softball coach at Wayne State (Neb.) during the 1997-98 school year. She complied a career record of 120-51 as a softball coach.

A 1992 graduate of Northwest Missouri State, Carlsen was a four-time all-conference basketball honoree while also earning all-conference and all-region honors as a softball player. During her senior year, Carlsen was named the 1992 Champion NCAA Female Athlete of the Year. She went on to earn her master’s degree from Nebraska Omaha in 1994 and played basketball professionally for the Nebraska Express of the Women’s Basketball Association from 1992-95 and was named an all-star in 1995.  

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT CARLSEN

“Having built one of the best women’s basketball programs in the nation at the Division II level, Lisa is a qualified, competent and quality hire for NIU. She does a great job with her players and they like playing for her. She builds a great relationship with her team. On top of that, she’s also a great representative of the athletic department and the entire university.”
    -- Dr. John Planek, Athletic Director, Lewis University

“Lisa Carlsen has been a winner at every level. She did a great job at Winona State and has done a great job at Lewis. She knows how to communicate with players and get the best out of her student-athletes. Having seen her players as counselors at our camps, I’ve always been impressed with the level of talent she’s been able to recruit to Lewis. She’s gotten several players there that could be playing at the Division I level. I definitely believe coach Carlsen will be successful at NIU.”
    -- Doug Bruno, Head Coach, DePaul University

“It’s a great hire for NIU. Lisa is a true competitor and extremely passionate about the game of basketball. She’s high character and gets the most out of her players. I think the fans at NIU will love how she’ll have her team play. Lisa liked to score as a player, and she likes her teams to score too. Her teams also emphasize defense, but she definitely likes a faster-paced game with offensive freedom. NIU got a good one in Lisa Carlsen.”
    -- Paula Buscher, Head Coach, SIU Edwardsville

"Lisa is a great hire and will do a terrific job at Northern Illinois University. She is a proven winner, she knows the recruiting region well and is a class act."
    -- Tricia Cullop, Head Coach, Toledo