THE NEED TO KNOWS
NIU (0-0) at Loyola (0-0)
Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena)
Tipoff: 5 p.m.

MATCHUP DETAILS
NIU leads LU in the all-time series, 13-7; trails in Chicago, 4-6

FREE THROWS
• Northern Illinois University is beginning its 60th season of play this weekend when it heads to Loyola University in Chicago. The meeting will be the 21st in program history. The Huskies are 4-6 at Loyola but lead the Ramblers in the series, 13-7.
• Friday's contest will be the first meeting since Nov. 30, 2012 in DeKalb, a 67-63 triumph by NIU in Gentile Arena.
• Senior Ally Lehman collected Preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Division honors on Oct. 27, one of only five players named to the team, after averaging 13.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game to earn Third Team All-MAC in 2015-16.
• Lehman's rebounding average is the fourth-highest in the country amongst returning players in 2016-17 and the highest average by a guard in Division I. The Nineveh, Ind., native finished 15th last season in rebounds per game nationally.
• She led the Mid-American Conference in total rebounds (329) and rebounds per game (11.0) in 2015-16 and set the NIU single season record for total rebounds, 10+ rebound games (21) and registered 15 double-doubles.
• Lehman also tied the single-game scoring record at Western Michigan on Feb. 24, 2016, scoring 41 points in the effort.
• NIU is returning four double-digit scorers this season, the first time since 1989-90 that the Huskies have returned such scoring. The Huskies also return 95.7-percent of their scoring from 2015-16.
• Freshmen duo Mikayla Voigt and Courtney Woods became the first tandem since NIU Hall of Famers Lisa Foss and Tammy Hinchee to score at least 300 points in their freshman season. Voigt finished third on the team with 320 points while Woods was fourth with 309.
• Of its 11 non-conference games, NIU will be playing six return games from last season. NIU went 4-2 last season, defeating Bradley, Chicago State, Drake and Illinois State, and falling to Milwaukee and SIUE.
• In its lone exhibition, NIU defeated Lakeland University, 111-49, at the NIU Convocation Center. Seven different Huskies scored 10-or-more points, paced by 21-point performances by Cassidy Glenn and Mikayla Voigt.

NEXT UP
• The Huskies will host Milwaukee on Wednesday, Nov. 16 in their home opener. 
Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Central. It will be the first game of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team.
• NIU has won its last two home openers.