This week in Huskie Athletics
This Week in Huskie Athletics NIU has eight teams in action. Last week NIU women’s basketball clinched a spot in the MAC tournament and will take on Kent State in Wednesday’s quarterfinals in Cleveland. If the Huskies advance, the semifinals will be Friday, with the final set for Saturday. NIU Gymnastics wraps up the regular season in Minnesota on Sunday. Baseball continues their road stretch with a Wednesday game at Purdue and a weekend series at Akron. Softball travels to CMU for a series on Friday and Saturday. Men’s golf is in competition at Auburn while women’s golf is competing at NAU. Men’s Tennis and women’s tennis are in competition as the men take on Judson and UIC while the women take on Ball State.
Women’s Basketball
at MAC Tournament
Wednesday, March 13: vs Kent State, 5:30 p.m. – ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
The NIU women’s basketball team enters this week’s MAC Championship as the sixth seed, taking on Kent State in the quarterfinals at approximately 5:30 PM CT Wednesday night. The Huskies won their final two games of the regular season last week. NIU used a 20-2 second half run to win at Miami 56-46 last Wednesday. The Huskies then capped the regular season with a 66-64 win at Western Michigan, scoring the final five points of the game and making two defensive stops in the final 30 seconds. Brooke Stonebraker led NIU with 18 points and 14 rebounds in the win at Western Michigan for her ninth double-double of the season. This is the fifth time in the last six seasons that NIU is heading to Cleveland and the second straight tournament the Huskies will face Kent State. Kent State won the only meeting between the two teams 73-48 at the M.A.C. Center on Jan. 14. The Golden Flashes dropped their final two games of the regular season to second-place Ball State and MAC regular season champions Toledo. The winner of the NIU/Kent State game will take on either Ball State or Ohio, both teams NIU won against in the regular season. A full tournament preview will be on NIUHuskies.com on Tuesday.
Gymnastics
Sunday, March 17: at Minnesota Quad-Meet, 2 p.m. – Watch | Live Scoring
The Northern Illinois University gymnastics team wraps up the regular season with a road trip to Minnesota, to take on the host Gophers, West Virginia and Air Force. The Huskies hosted Ball State in their home finale and senior day meet on Sunday, March 10. The Huskies posted a 194.625 and Alyssa Al-Ashari took home first place on bars. NIU had their third highest scoring bars performance in Sunday’s meet with a 49.000.
Sunday’s meet will be the last before NIU heads to Ball State to compete in the MAC Championships on Saturday, March 23.
Baseball
Wednesday, March 13: at Purdue, 3 p.m. – B1G+ ($) | Live Stats
Friday, March 15: at Akron, 1:05 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, March 16: at Akron, 12:05 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Sunday, March 17: at Akron, 12:05 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
NIU Baseball is on the road this week starting with a game Wednesday at Purdue. The Huskies opened Mid-American Conference play last weekend by taking two out of three games at Ohio. NIU took the rubber game Sunday 6-1. The pitching duo of Adam Brouwer and Jackson Stewart allowed just one run on six hits, combining for six strikeouts. Stewart earned his first save of the year, throwing four scoreless innings. The NIU bullpen gave the Huskies a big lift this weekend, combining to allow just two runs in 12.2 innings of work. Senior outfielder Eric Erato hit .385 in the Ohio series from the lead-off spot, drawing four walks and stealing three bases. Catcher Colin Summerhill enters the week leading the MAC in home runs (7), RBI (22), and walks (14). Akron opened MAC play by getting swept by Toledo.
Softball
Friday, March 15: at CMU, 2 p.m. – Live Video
Saturday, March 16: at CMU, 12 p.m. – Live Video
Saturday, March 16: at CMU, 2 p.m. – Live Video
The Northern Illinois University Huskies softball program is continuing action on the road this week, opening Mid-American Conference play on March 15-16. The Huskies will travel to Central Michigan for a three-game series. The Huskies and Chippewas met at the South Alabama tournament in February, with the Chippewas claiming a 6-5 victory over the Huskies.
The Huskies were last in action on March 8-10 as they competed at the Montana Classic. The Huskies went 2-3 over the weekend.
Men’s Golf
Monday, March 11 – Tuesday, March 12: at Tiger Invitational (Auburn, Ala.) – Live Scoring
The NIU men’s golf team plays its second event of the spring Monday and Tuesday at the Tiger Invitational by Jason Dufner, hosted by Auburn. The Tigers are currently the second-ranked men’s golf team in the country. The field at Auburn this week also includes six other programs ranked in the top-100. The Huskies opened the spring with a 12th-place showing at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational Feb. 26-28. Zach Place and Ian Bruchhauser tied for 25th individually at two-under par. Place currently leads NIU in scoring average at 70.889. Bruchhauser posted his lowest tournament score of the year of 214, highlighted by an opening round 69.
Women’s Golf
Saturday, March 16 – Sunday, March 17 at NAU Red Rocks Invitational – Live Scoring
The Huskies women’s golf team returns to action as they compete at the 2024 NAU Red Rocks Invitational, March 16-17 at the Oakcreek Country Club in Sedona, Arizona. The Huskies will take place in the three-round, par 72 tournament. The Huskies had a season-best finish as they returned to action on February 13-14, finishing fourth as a team.
Men’s Tennis
Friday, March 15: vs Judson University, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 16: at UIC, 1 p.m.
The NIU men’s tennis team looks to start a new winning streak this weekend. The Huskies are 11-3 overall and opened MAC play 1-1 last weekend. NIU took down Ball State 5-2 on Friday before WMU ended the Huskies nine dual winning streak on Sunday by a score of 5-2.
Cheng En Tsai had a come from behind three set wins in Friday’s dual against the Cardinals at No. 1 singles. Saul Berdullas went 2-0 in singles play last week and won both matches in two sets.
Women’s Tennis
Sunday, March 17: at Ball State, 12 p.m.
The NIU women’s tennis team takes a five-match winning streak and an 11-5 record into its Mid-American Conference opener Sunday as the Huskies will face Ball State in Muncie in its lone match of the week. The defending MAC Champion Cardinals are 3-9 on the season.
NIU defeated Lewis (5-2), Eastern Illinois (7-0) and St. Thomas (6-1) at home last weekend with senior Diana Lukyanova earning sweeping her singles and doubles matches in straight sets while playing primarily in the No. 1 position.
Lukyanova needs one singles win to move into a tie for second place all-time on the Huskies’ career singles wins list as she enters the week with 79 career victories. She leads the team with a 10-4 singles record in 2024, while she and Isabella Righi have combined for NIU’s best doubles mark at 9-4.