It’s a big week in Huskie athletics! This Saturday the NIU gymnastics and wrestling team combine to host the annual “Beauty and the Beast” event at the Convocation center. Additionally, five other teams are in action on the road.
Men’s Basketball
Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Western Michigan, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats | Live Audio
Saturday, Feb. 4 at Bowling Green, 4 p.m. – ESPN3 | Live Stats | Live Audio
The Huskie men’s basketball team heads back on the road for a pair of games this week as NIU travels to Western Michigan on Tuesday (Jan. 31) before visiting Bowling Green on Saturday (Feb. 4). NIU won its last two road contests as the Huskies topped Miami, 81-77, in Oxford (Jan. 17) and Eastern Michigan, 88-67, in Ypsilanti (Jan. 21). The Huskies come into the week tied for fifth in the Mid-American Conference standings with Bowling Green and Buffalo at 4-4 in league play. David Coit is averaging 21 points per game over the last six contests, shooting 50 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three. For the season, Coit is 10th in the MAC with 15.9 points per game.
Women’s Basketball
Wednesday, Feb. 1: at Ball State – ESPN+ | Live Stats | Live Audio
Saturday, Feb. 4: at Buffalo, 1 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats | Live Audio
NIU women’s basketball goes on the road this week, taking on Ball State Wednesday night at 5:30 and going out to Buffalo Saturday. The Huskies split last season’s two regular season games against both the Cardinals and Bulls. NIU is coming off a 66-50 loss to Bowling Green last Saturday at the Convocation Center. Sophomore forward Laura Nickel and redshirt-sophomore guard Sidney McCrea each led NIU with nine points. Nickel added six rebounds and a career-high five assists. NIU enters the week third in the MAC with 7.9 three-pointers per game. A full preview of each game this week will be available on NIUHuskies.com.
Gymnastics
Saturday, Feb. 4: vs. Kent State and Simpson, Beauty & The Beast Meet, 1 p.m. – Watch Live | Live Stats
The Huskies take on Kent State and Simpson in the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday in the annual “Beauty and the Beast” meet with NIU Wrestling as both teams compete side-by-side on the arena floor. The action in this unique meet gets underway at 1 p.m. (CT) and admission is free.
NIU is coming off a successful dual meet weekend as the Huskies earned its two best scores of the season, recording a 195.075 Friday night in a win at Illinois State before returning home to defeat ISU and Winona State in a Tri-Meet while posting a season-high 195.500 total. The Huskies were led by veterans Natalie Hamp, who won the bars event in both meets, and Alyssa Al-Ashari, who scored a 9.925 on balance beam Sunday, tied for the third highest score in school history. On Sunday, the Huskies recorded 10 scores of 9.800 or higher, including five on balance beam, and had 19 of 24 routines earn 9.700 or above.
Look for a complete preview of Saturday’s home meet later this week on NIUHuskies.com.
Wrestling
Saturday, Feb. 4: vs. Buffalo, Beauty & The Beast Meet, 1 p.m. – Watch Live
After over two months of road duals and open tournaments, the Huskies return home for a “Beauty and the Beast” matchup with Buffalo this Saturday. Coming off an impressive 23-10 road win over Ohio, NIU sits No. 3 in the MAC West Division with a 6-4 overall mark and a 3-1 record in league action. Against Ohio, the Huskies won the opening six bouts to gain a 18-0 lead before Terrese Aaron put a bow on the evening with a massive 17-2 tech fall win over Jacob Padilla. The last time the pair met, the Huskies were edged 17-15 on Feb. 5, 2022. NIU leads the all-time series with the Bulls 14-9.
Women’s Golf
Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 6-7: at Falcon Florida Classic – Live Scores
The Huskies’ championship season is officially underway Monday, Feb. 6 as the squad heads south to Lakewood Ranch, Fla. for the Falcon Florida Classic, hosted by Bowling Green. The tournament will be held at the beautiful Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club which features three championship-level courses designed by golf legends Arnold Palmer and Rick Robbins. The Huskies look to build off a productive fall in which the team saw three top-five finishes and four top-10 individual performances. The fall season was highlighted by a third-place finish at the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo. at The Club at Old Hawthorne. Sydney Naro led the way for NIU tied for sixth as an individual.
Track and Field
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 3-4: at Meyo Invitational
After a weekend off, the Huskie women’s track and field team returns to competition this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4, as it travels to South Bend, Ind., for Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational. Competition will begin on Friday at 3 p.m. with the long jump and will return at 9:25 a.m. on Saturday with the 3,000 meters. Last year at the Meyo Invitational, Kadeja Campbell finished as runner-up in the 200 meters while Jazmyn Smith took second in the long jump. This season, Campbell currently holds the second-fastest 200-meter time in the MAC at 24.55 seconds while Smith has the conference’s third-best mark in the long jump at 5.95 meters.
Women’s Tennis
Saturday, Feb. 4: at Wisconsin, 9:30 a.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 4: at Marquette, 6 p.m. – Live Stats (TBA)
NIU heads north for a pair of matches Thursday as the Huskies will take on Wisconsin in Madison Thursday morning before making their way to Milwaukee for a 6 p.m. contest at Marquette.
The Huskies are coming off a pair of wins at home last weekend to improve to 2-3 on the season as they defeated Chicago State, 6-1, before blanking Eastern Illinois, 7-0.
Sophomore Erika Dimitriev was undefeated in doubles and singles on the weekend, winning a three-set match over Chicago State’s Kristina Pukhaeva at No. 2 singles and taking a win at No. 1 singles over Eastern Illinois in a super tiebreaker, 10-3. She also teamed with Anastasia Rakita for a pair of doubles wins to help the Huskies take the doubles point in both matches.