The 2025–26 Northern Illinois Huskies women's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by first-year head coach Jacey Brooks, played their home games at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the Mid-American Conference.
Previous season The Huskies finished the 2024–25 season 13–17, 6–12 in MAC play, to finish in ninth place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament, as only the top eight teams in the conference qualify.
Following the season, on March 10, 2025, head coach Lisa Carlsen announced her resignation, ending her 10-year tenure with the team. On April 1, the school announced that they would be hiring Buffalo associate head coach Jacey Brooks as Carlsen's successor.
Preseason On October 21, 2025, the Mid-American Conference released their preseason poll. Northern Illinois was picked to finish 13th (last) in the conference.
Preseason rankings +MAC Preseason Poll Place Team Votes 1 133 (5) 2 118 (2) 3 115 (3) 4 112 (3) 5 105 6 101 7 86 8 51 9 48 10 44 11 42 12 36 13 Northern Illinois 23
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Tournament Champions +MAC Tournament Champions Team Votes Kent State 5 UMass 3 Toledo Ball State 1 Miami
Source:
Preseason All-MAC Teams No players were named to either Preseason All-MAC First or Second Teams.
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season
Sources:
References