IT WAS FUN TO WATCH. Learning to win.

Teams with great chemistry can still play poorly while other teams can barely get along and still succeed. In the case of Northern Illinois' women's basketball team, this year fell somewhere in-between.

This year could be considered a yearlong lesson in chemistry for the Huskies. The result? A 10-18 season that provided plenty of lessons and offered some hope for next season.

The expectations weren't high entering this season. NIU needed to replace nearly its entire scoring load outside of wing, and eventual All-MAC Second Team member Whitney Lowe. The Huskies essentially needed nametags at the start of the year and it showed with an early five-game losing streak.

“I think the interesting thing about the team this year is what we had to replace in some of our girls that left,” said coach Carol Owens. “To lose that kind of scoring power and then see the growth and maturity of these girls.”

Indeed. The team that was on the floor in January and February was very different from that of November and December.