This Week in Huskie Athletics- Jan.16

This week Huskie Athletics Northern Illinois University will have seven teams in action. The week will be opened with home games by the men’s basketball team on Tuesday, Jan. 16 against Kent State. Women’s basketball will host Buffalo in the Convocation Center at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night before hosting CMU at 1 p.m. on Saturday. NIU wrestling will take on Cleveland State on Friday at 1 p.m. away from home. Huskie gymnastics will be on the road in Nashville, Tenn. In a six-team meet on Saturday. Women’s tennis will host Wisconsin on Saturday and James Madison on Sunday while men’s tennis and track & field will be on the road.

Men’s Basketball

Tuesday, January 16: vs Kent State, 7 p.m. –  ESPN+ |  Listen |  Live Stats

The Huskie men’s basketball team continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday night (Jan. 16) as NIU welcomes Kent State to DeKalb. Last time out against Bowling Green, Nasir Muhammad netted a career-high 12 points while David Coit netted a team-high 27 points. NIU currently ranks 23rd nationally in blocks per game (5.1) and 38th in free throw attempts (23.2 per game), leading the MAC in both categories. Kent State, who comes to DeKalb with an 8-8 record, 1-3 in the MAC, leads the league, and ranks 14th nationally, shooting 77.6 percent from the free throw line. A full preview is available on NIUHuskies.com.

Women’s Basketball

Wednesday, January 17: vs Buffalo, 6 p.m. –   ESPN+ |  Live Audio |  Live Stats

Saturday, January 20: vs Central Michigan, 1 p.m. –   Watch On ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats

The NIU women’s basketball team returns home after a pair of road games last week. The Huskies won one and lost one last week as they beat Ohio 67-62 on Wednesday, January 10 67-62. The Huskies then took on Bowling Green and lost by a score of 73-48 as they were unable to overcome a slow second quarter.

Brooke Stonebraker scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the win over Ohio. On Sunday, Stonebraker again led NIU in scoring with 15 points and nine rebounds. Jayden Marable scored 13 in the contest as well.

Gymnastics

Saturday, January 20: at Tennessee Collegiate Classic, 6 p.m.

The Huskies will compete in the Tennessee Collegiate Classic on Saturday. NIU will be one of six teams competing at the meet in Nashville.

The Huskies won their last meet away from home on Saturday, January 13 as they took home a 194.050-193.00 win over Bowling Green as they opened MAC competition. Alyssa Al-Ashari won the uneven bars at the meet with Bowling Green scoring a 9.850. NIU won bars by nearly a full point and retained that lead in the third and fourth rotation.

Wrestling

Friday, January 19: at Cleveland State University, 6 p.m. –

The Huskies wrestling program hits the road this week as they travel to Cleveland State for a Friday night dual. The Huskies (8-2, 2-1 MAC) are set to face the Vikings of Cleveland State (3-6 1-1 MAC) in the Vikings opening home MAC dual.

Winning the first four bouts of the Mid-American Conference dual, the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program defeated the Ohio University Bobcats, 24-15 inside Victor E. Court. The was the Huskies’ first win against the Bobcats in DeKalb since January 19, 2007. Jaivon Jones faced his second consecutive ranked opponent of the season while Blake West and Jacobi Jackson, the other ranked Huskies, won their matches.

Men’s Tennis

Saturday, January 20: vs Washburn University, 3 p.m.

Saturday, January 20: at Drake University, 5 p.m.

Men’s tennis will have a double header on Saturday against Washburn at 3 p.m. and at 5 p.m. against the hosts Drake. The Huskies opened up their dual season on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Chattanooga. NIU then fell 7-0 to the hosts Mississippi State 7-0 on Sunday, Jan.14.

On Saturday the Huskies swept their three doubles matches and then won four of their six singles matches. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia, Saul Berdullas and Armin Koschtojan all swept their singles matches against the Mocs’.

Women’s Tennis

Saturday, January 20: vs #23 Wisconsin, 3 p.m.   (Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House – Stats

Sunday, January 21: vs James Madison, 10 a.m.  (Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House. – Stats

The NIU women’s tennis team opens its 2024 dual match season this weekend with a pair of home matches. The Huskies play host to No. 23 Wisconsin on Saturday, the highest ranked opponent to play in the Nelson Tennis Center.  Sunday, NIU takes on a James Madison squad that played in the finals of the Sun Belt Tournament a year ago.  Admission to all matches is free; see links above follow the live scores and live streams of all four courts will be available later this week.

NIU returns its entire lineup from the team that went 12-16 in dual matches a year ago, including an 8-7 mark at home.  The Huskies are led by senior Diana Lukyanova, who enters the 2024 season with 69 career singles and 49 doubles wins at NIU. Junior Erika Dimitriev posted a 10-5 dual match record last year while playing at the No. 1 and 2 singles positions. Sophomore Nataly Ninova led the Huskies in singles wins in 2023 with 15 in 17 matches.

Track & Field

Saturday, January 20: at Cyclone Classic, 11 a.m. –   Live Stats

For the second consecutive weekend, the Huskie women’s track and field team heads to the State of Iowa as NIU will compete in Iowa State’s Cyclone Open on Friday (Jan. 19) in Ames, Iowa, at the Lied Recreation Center. This past Saturday at the Hawkeye Invitational, Malia Watkins ran the sixth-fastest time in the MAC this season in the 200 meters, running 25.06 seconds. Kendal Only recorded a second-place finish in the triple jump at the Hawkeye Invitational with a mark 11.44 meters (37-06.50). Competition at the Cyclone Open is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Friday with the weight throw, events on track at set to start at 1 p.m. with the 60-meter hurdles.