After closing the 2024 calendar year with wins over Idaho State and Viterbo, the Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team opens the Mid-American Conference season at Toledo on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. CT.

The game will be broadcast on WDKB 94-9, the NIU Huskies app and TuneIn. It will also be telecast on ESPN+.

Wednesday’s game marks the third time NIU is playing on New Year’s Day. The Huskies earned a 91-61 win over Stetson on Jan. 1, 1984. Thirty-eight years later NIU opened MAC play at Central Michigan but lost 72-68.

NIU (6-5) scored a season-high 92 points last Saturday in a 92-44 win over Viterbo. The Huskies also set season-highs by shooting 54.4 percent from the field, making 13 three-pointers and shooting 56.5 percent from the three-point arc. Saturday’s win marked the first time NIU held back-to-back opponents to 50 points or less since the end of the 2014-15 season.

Junior guard Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) led NIU in scoring for the third time this season with 20 points against Viterbo. She was 8-for-13 from the field with two three-pointers. Doyle is NIU’s leading scorer going into league play at 13.0 points per game.

Graduate forward Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) has scored in double figures in each of the last four games. Stonebraker was an efficient 5-for-7 against Viterbo for 10 points, adding three rebounds and two blocks. She has had multiple blocks in each of the last three games and is third in the MAC with 1.1 blocks per game. Over the last four games Stonebraker is averaging 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.75 blocks per game.

Toledo (8-2) enters conference play on a four-game winning streak after a 114-30 win over Defiance on Saturday. Freshman Faith Fedd-Robinson led six Rockets in double-figure scoring with 16 points. Sammi Mikonowicz, Toledo’s leading scorer on the year, had 13 points and six rebounds. Mikonowicz averages 13.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Toledo is third in the MAC in both scoring offense (73.6 points per game) and rebound margin (+7.9).

The Huskies are back at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 4 to take on the Ohio Bobcats at 1 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at NIUHuskies.com and by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). Saturday’s game is a $5 Kids Combo day at the Convocation Center. The Kids Combo includes a hot dog, a bag of chips and a small soft drink or water for five dollars for kids ages 13 and under.