LEARNING TO WIN. The women's basketball team makes the best of adversity.

It’s hard to find bright spots in a season filled with injuries and tragedy.

Despite a 10-18 overall record, it‘s hard to judge what the Huskies did and didn’t do with so many outside factors affecting the entire season.

“There were some obstacles that we had to overcome,” NIU head coach Carol Owens said. “I was proud how our team overcame the obstacles.”

These hurdles affected both the team and the individual athletes during the season.

The Huskies were picked pre-season to finish second in the MAC West this season, but fell very short of that mark. NIU finished fourth with a 6-8 conference record.

That's the bad news. Now for the good news.

One highlight included a three-game winning streak with a road win over eventual MAC Tournament champion Miami.

Also, the Huskies pulled out an emotional win over Western Michigan in its first game back after nearly two weeks off for the Feb. 14 shootings.

“It was a season of growth and a season of maturity,” Owens said. “I was proud of how they handled things, with the injuries and playing ball without key people for a while.”

Next up: finishing the semester and staying in shape in the off-season.