The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team is back on the floor at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 20 for a 1 p.m. game against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as locally on 94-9 WDKB, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.
The Huskie Basketball 2024 pack is available for Saturday’s game. This ticket deal includes four lower bowl tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and four chips for just $40. Go to niuhuskies.com/2024PACK and enter the promo code 2024 PACK.
This Saturday’s game is a “Scholarship Saturday” with a special scholarship giveaway to one lucky NIU student, provided that 225 or more NIU students attend the game. If the attendance threshold of 225 students is met, one lucky student will be randomly selected to win a $1,500 scholarship. The student must be in attendance when the winner is selected in the fourth quarter. This promotion will also be in effect for the January 27th and February 10th women’s basketball games.
NIU (8-8, 2-3 MAC) rallied from an eight-point second quarter deficit against Buffalo Wednesday night to tie the game at 47-47 going into the fourth. The Bulls outscored the Huskies 18-11 in the final quarter to come away with a 65-58 win. Despite the loss, NIU continues to be a stalwart side at home. The Huskies have not allowed an opponent to score 70 points at the Convocation Center this season.
Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) led NIU in scoring for the third consecutive game, putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds against Buffalo. It was Stonebraker’s third double-double on the season and second in the last three games.
The Huskies got 32 points from the bench Wednesday night, the second-highest total of the season. Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) had 10 points and four rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) was 3-for-3 from the field with two three-pointers for nine points. Jayde Van Hyfte (Annawan, Ill./Arizona State) tied a season-high with seven points. NIU is averaging 22.6 bench points per game.
Central Michigan (2-14, 1-4) comes to DeKalb after a 79-46 loss to Ball State at McGuirk Arena on Wednesday. The Cardinals forced 25 turnovers and held the Chippewas to 34.6 percent shooting from the field. Senior center Rochelle Norris led CMU with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Karrington Gordon leads the Chippewas in scoring at 10.3 points per game. Central Michigan leads the MAC with 4.4 blocks per game and 14.2 offensive rebounds per game.
The two teams split the two meetings last season with each side winning at home. NIU has won each of the last three meetings against Central Michigan at the Convocation Center.
The Huskies go on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 24 for a 6 p.m. CT game against defending Mid-American Conference champions Toledo.