# North Star Conference

The North Star Conference or NSC was a women's conference in the NCAA. The conference existed from the 1983–84 school year through the 1991–92 school year. Originally announced in 1983, the conference was formed by charter members Butler, Dayton, DePaul, Detroit, Evansville, Loyola (Chicago), Notre Dame, and Xavier. Although the conference was to offer competition in cross country, softball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball, the conference was created primarily as a basketball conference. With the exception of Butler and Dayton, all charter members' women's basketball teams were already competing at the NCAA Division I level; Butler and Dayton upgraded their teams from NCAA Division II and commenced competition in the conference's second season. The conference was effectively absorbed by the Mid-Continent Conference (now known as The Summit League), as six of its final seven members moved their women's sports to that organization (the remaining member, Akron, moved all its sports for both sexes to the Mid-American Conference).

## Membership

* Akron 1988-1989 through 1991-1992
* Butler 1984-1985 through 1985-1986
* Cleveland State 1988-1989 through 1991-1992
* Dayton 1984-1985 through 1987-1988
* DePaul 1983-1984 through 1990-1991
* Detroit 1983-1984 through 1985-1986
* Evansville 1983-1984 through 1985-1986
* Illinois-Chicago 1988-1989 through 1991-1992
* Loyola (Illinois) 1983-1984 through 1985-1986
* Marquette 1986-1987 through 1988-1989
* Northern Illinois 1987-1988 through 1991-1992
* Notre Dame 1983-1984 through 1987-1988
* Valparaiso 1987-1988 through 1991-1992
* Wisconsin-Green Bay 1988-1989 through 1991-1992
* Wright State 1990-1991 through 1991-1992
* Xavier 1983-1984 through 1985-1986

### Membership timeline
## Commissioner

* Jean Lenti Ponsetto (1987–1989)
* Arnie Fielkow (1989–1991)
* Phyllis Holmes (1991–1992)

## Women's Basketball
### Conference Champions
#### Regular season

| Season | Teams | School |
| 1984 | 6 | Loyola (Illinois) |
| 1985 | 8 | Notre Dame |
| 1986 | 8 | Notre Dame |
| 1987 | 4 | DePaul |
| 1988 | 6 | DePaul |
| 1989 | 8 | Northern Illinois/DePaul |
| 1990 | 7 | Northern Illinois |
| 1991 | 8 | Wisconsin-Green Bay |
| 1992 | 7 | Wisconsin-Green Bay |

### Conference Tournament

| Season | Teams | Champion |
| 1989 | 8 | DePaul |
| 1990 | 7 | Northern Illinois |
| 1991 | 8 | DePaul |
| 1992 | 7 | Northern Illinois |

### Honors
#### Coach of the Year

* 1983-84
* 1984-85 Mary DiStanislao, Notre Dame
* 1985-86 Mary DiStanislao, Notre Dame
* 1986-87
* 1987-88 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
* 1988-89 Jane Albright-Dieterle, Northern Illinois
* 1989-90 Jane Albright-Dieterle, Northern Illinois
* 1990-91
* 1991-92

#### Player of the Year

* 1983-84
* 1984-85
* 1985-86 Trena Keys, Notre Dame
* 1986-87 Trena Keys, Notre Dame
* 1987-88
* 1988-89
* 1989-90 Carol Owens, Northern Illinois
* 1990-91 Lisa Foss, Northern Illinois
* 1991-92

### Attendance

| Season | Teams | G/S | Attendance | P/G | Net | Total |
| 1984 | 6 | 57 | 18,694 | 328 | UP | 1,329 |
| 1985 | 8 | 89 | 23,198 | 261 | DN | 2,767 |
| 1986 | 8 | 95 | 21,662 | 228 | DN | 1,536 |
| 1987 | 4 | 50 | 14,678 | 294 | UP | 1,224 |
| 1988 | 6 | 64 | 23,870 | 373 | UP | 9,192 |
| 1989 | 8 | 94 | 41,514 | 442 | UP | 17,644 |
| 1990 | 7 | 85 | 53,752 | 632 | UP | 16,336 |
| 1991 | 8 | 88 | 53,675 | 610 | DN | 77 |
| 1992 | 7 | 76 | 48,155 | 634 | Up | 18,195 |

## Women's Volleyball
### Conference Champions
#### Regular season

* Season Number of Teams School
* 1983 6
* 1984 8
* 1985 8
* 1986 4
* 1987 6
* 1988 8 Northern Illinois
* 1989 7
* 1990 8
* 1991 7

### Conference Tournament

| Season | Teams | Champion |
| 1988 | 8 | Northern Illinois |
| 1989 | 7 | |
| 1990 | 8 | |
| 1991 | 7 | |