THE NEED TO KNOWS
Tipoff: Saturday, January 7, 1 p.m.
Video: ESPN3
Radio: WLBK 98.9 FM/1360 AM

MATCHUP DETAILS
NIU trails Ohio in the all-time series, 17-16; NIU leads at home, 8-7

FREE THROWS
• NIU women's basketball is No. 2 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 90.8 points per game, 3.3 points shy of national leader Baylor. The Huskies have scored 90-or-more points five times.
• In its first 13 games, NIU has scored 80-or-more points 12 times and 75-or-more in all 13 games, a previously unrecorded feat in program history. The 1989-90 Huskies, the NCAA's Scoring Champions that season, also scored 80-or-more 12 times in their first 13 contests.
• Northern Illinois University is the only Division I school with three scorers averaging at least 17.0 points per game - Courtney Woods (17.6), Ally Lehman (17.2) and Cassidy Glenn (17.0). Duke, Syracuse, and UConn are the only other teams with two scorers averaging over 17.0 points per game.
• NIU is 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 2005 and seeking its first 3-0 start in conference since 1993-94.
• Entering the game ninth in the country in assists per game (7.2), Ally Lehman leads the top-10 distributors in the country in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (10.8).
• The NIU offense is averaging 80.5 possessions per game, scoring 1.13 points per possession.
• The Huskies are 12th nationally in turnovers (12.8/G) and 18th in assist/turnover ratio (1.28/G).

ALL-AMERICA ALLY LEHMAN
• Though 2017 is in its infancy and the NCAA basketball season is only a third of the way through, no point guard has been as prolific as Ally Lehman this season.
• As a passer, Lehman has dished seven-or-more assists seven times and at least five 11 times.
• On the glass, she's pulled down 10-or-more rebounds eight times this season and has registered nine double-doubles through 13 games.
• The Nineveh, Ind., native is eighth in the country in assists per game at 7.2, totaling 93 helpers. She is also fifth in the country in assist-turnover ratio with a clip of 3.44.
• Amongst her peers in the national top-10 for assists, Lehman leads all players in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (10.8), ranking 76th and 11th nationally, respectively.
• She is the only player in the country averaging seven-or-more assists with two triple-doubles this season.
• The only player on that list with a triple-double this season is UCLA's Jordin Canada.
• In the latest Mid-American Conference statistical report, Lehman ranked amongst the top-10 in the MAC in 10-of-13 statistical categories and appears in the top-15 in 11 classifications.
• Her 48-points against Milwaukee, tied for the most in Mid-American Conference history, still stands as the second-highest ranked total in Division I this season while her 21 rebounds that same night is the sixth-best.
• Lehman's 40-20 performance was just the fourth such game in NCAA Division I since 2009-10.

STARTING OUT ON THE GOOD FOOT
• For the fourth-straight season, the NIU women's basketball team won its Mid-American Conference opener, defeating Eastern Michigan last Saturday, 85-73.
• The program had not won four-straight conference openers since 1990-94, a senior class that featured NIU Athletics Hall of Famer E.C. Hill.
• For the first time since 2005, the Huskies are 2-0 to start the conference season, doing so in historical fashion with their first win at Bowling Green since 2004.
• NIU is in search of its first 3-0 conference start since 1993-94 when it finished a perfect 18-0 in the Mid-Continent Conference.

THE VERY DEFINITION OF #MACTION
• With a 9-4 start to the season, including a 2-0 conference start, the MAC is starting to take notice of what NIU women's basketball is all about.
• Northern Illinois University has averaged 87 points and 18 assists in its two conference games, paced by an 89-point and 19-assist night at Bowling Green on Wednesday.
• The Huskies lead the MAC in points per game and are No. 2 in the country at 90.8.
• On the season, NIU has averaged 16.4 assists per outing, the third-best distribution clip in the conference.
• Behind the arc, Northern Illinois also leads the MAC in three-pointers per game (8.6) and three-point field goal percentage (38.4) while also ranking in the top-15 nationally.
• In 10 of the team's first 13 games, four-or-more players have reached double figures in a game, including five-or-more Huskies six times.
• The Huskies are averaging 80.5 possessions per game in its first 13 games.

GETTING SOME LOVE
• For the first time this season, the NIU women's basketball team received a vote in the College Basketball Insider Mid-Major Women's poll.
• Elsewhere in the MAC, Buffalo (No. 4), Ohio (No. 6) and Toledo (No. 24) are ranked while Central Michigan and Western Michigan are both receiving votes.

SETTING THE TONE
• Northern Illinois University has gotten off to fast starts in the first two games of Mid-American Conference play, holding both EMU and BGSU under 26 points in the first half.
• On both occasions, the Huskies scored at least 40 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, including a 22-point halftime lead on Wednesday versus the Falcons.
• NIU has limited each foe to under a 33-percent clip from the field, led by a tally of 25.7 at the Stroh Center on Wednesday night.
• With the defense pressuring Bowling Green to a low field goal percentage, the Huskies outscored in the first half, 46-24, their biggest lead of the contest.
• Previously, NIU had only held one foe to under 30 points in the first half, limiting Bradley to 20 points as it led 36-20 at the break on Dec. 2.

TREYS FOR DAYS
• As a team, NIU is sixth in the Mid-American Conference in three-point field goal attempts with 292.
• However, the Huskies are second in makes with 112 to rank 14th in the country and first in the MAC in three-point field goal percentage.
• Cassidy Glenn is first in the conference in three-point field percentage with a clip of .460, hitting 23 of her 50 shots.
• Meanwhile, teammate Courtney Woods leads the conference in makes behind the arc with 43, averaging 3.3 per game, which also puts her 12th in the NCAA this season.

QUALITY AND QUANTITY FROM THE FIELD
• When it comes to shooting the basketball, the Huskies have been rather consistent with the number of shots they take per game.
• Averaging 74 field goal attempts per game, NIU has taken 70-or-more 10 times and reached the 80-shot plateau three times.
• However, the efficiency at which the Huskies have shot has been most outstanding as they have shot over 40 percent 12 times and surpassed 45 percent seven times.
• On Nov. 26 against Illinois State, Northern Illinois posted a season-best 51.8 percent field goal percentage, going 43-for-83 to defeat the Redbirds, 108-66.
• NIU has scored at least 80 points 12 times this season and reached the century mark twice.
• Prior to this season, the Huskies last scored 100 points in a game in March 1996.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE - NO IDENTITY CRISIS
• The Huskies equal scoring all season has been a big part of the team's success to start the year.
• NIU has had four-or-more players with 10 points-or-more in a game 10 times this season and five-or-more hit the mark six times.
• Second nationally in average points (90.8), all five of the Huskies starters – Cassidy Glenn, Ally Lehman, Kelly Smith, Mikayla Voigt Courtney Woods – are averaging double figures while substitute Janae Poisson is also accomplishing the feat.
• Glenn, Lehman and Woods, all of whom average at least 17.0 points per game, makes NIU the only team in the country with at least three players averaging 17.0 points per game.
• Heavyweights Duke, Syracuse, and UConn are the only other schools with two players that currently average such a total.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
• NIU has registered 10-or-more points via fast break seven times this season, including the last three games.
• The Huskies have outscored UMKC, Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green a combined 42-20 in the last three games while owning a 139-59 edge over their 13 foes, holding Loyola, Milwaukee, Chicago State and Bradley scoreless in the category.
• Northern Illinois has only been outscored via fast break twice this season and were last bested on Dec. 19 by reigning WNIT Champion South Dakota, 4-0.

STICKY FINGERS
• The Huskies have found a fast rhythm to their defensive style as of late, causing 67 turnovers and recording 32 steals in the last four games, including 10 steals at UMKC and versus the Falcons.
• NIU has registered 10-or-more steals in a game five times this season.
• Northern Illinois University has outscored its foes 73-47 in points off turnovers in the last four games.
• Senior Ally Lehman has led the Huskies with nine steals each with Lehman registering at least two in each of the last four games, including three at BGSU.

OFFENSIVE HISTORY LESSON
• In its first 13 games this season, Northern Illinois University has scored 80-or-more points 12 times, falling below the mark at Western Illinois on Nov. 19 with a 79-point effort.
• The Huskies are averaging 90.8 points per game and have scored 1,181 points this season.
• The 1989-90 Huskies also scored 80-or-more points in 12 of their first 13 games, however, they failed to reach 70 in a loss to Stephen F. Austin (90-65).
• Through 13 games that season, NIU scored 1,249 points. The NIU Athletics Hall of Fame squad finished the season 26-5 en route to the team's first trip to the NCAA Tournament. NIU's 94.5 points per game in 1989-90 is the fourth-highest average in NCAA history.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• The Mid-American Conference's reigning East Division champion Ohio enters the weekend with an 11-2 record, including a flawless 2-0 conference record.
• Ohio is averaging 68.5 points per game while holding opponents to 57.3 points per game, the second-fewest in the conference.
• The Bobcats have the best turnover margin in the Mid-American Conference, causing 21.0 per game to just 13.1 allowed. They are second in turnovers allowed to NIU.
• Individually, Quiera Lampkins is the team's offensive bread and butter, averaging 19.6 points per game with five 20-point games this season.
• In its MAC opener last Saturday, Ohio won at Bowling Green, 69-58, and is coming off an 83-55 triumph at home against Buffalo.
• The Bobcats are 4-2 on the road in 2016-17, dropping two of its last three games away from the Ohio Convocation Center.

NEXT UP
• NIU hits the road for an extended stay in Ohio, taking on Kent State Wednesday and heading to Toledo for a Saturday matinee.
• Tipoff on Wednesday against the Golden Flashes is set for 6 p.m.