THE NEED TO KNOWS
Tipoff: Feb. 8, 7 p.m.
Video: ESPN3
Radio: WLBK 98.9 FM/1360 AM
Live Stats: NIUHuskies.com

MATCHUP DETAILS
NIU trails Central Michigan in the all-time series, 29-22; leads in DeKalb, 15-10

FREE THROWS
• NIU women's basketball is No. 3 in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 88.0 points per game, 2.3 points shy of national leader Maryland, and have scored at least 90 points nine times.
• NIU is the only team in the country with six players averaging double figures and is one of only three teams in the country (Tennessee, Western Illinois) with three players averaging over 15 points per game - Courtney Woods (17.4), Cassidy Glenn (16.4) and Ally Lehman (15.7).
• The Huskies have overcome deficits of 10-points or larger four times this season and nine times in the last four years, the highest total by a four-year class at NIU in the last 12 years.
• With eight regular season games remaining, the Huskies scoring average is currently the third-best in Mid-American Conference history and highest clip since Toledo averaged 83.6 in 1996-97.
• The 2016-17 Huskies are only the seventh team in program history to record at least 15 wins in its first 21 games and are off to their best start in Mid-American Conference history at 9-1.
• In their previous 10 home games, NIU is 9-1, averaging 89.0 points and shooting 43.8 percent.
• Ten times this season, including five of its last nine games, NIU has had five players score in double figures while six different Huskies are averaging 10-or-more points per game.
• With a career-best tying 11-assist effort at Ball State, Ally Lehman tied NIU's single-season and career record for 10-assist games with four and five, respectively.

FINDING A WAY
• Trailing by 14 points with just under five minutes remaining in the first half, NIU went on a 12-0 run to close the gap to two points at halftime, 32-30.
• After battling with the Broncos over the next two quarters - trading five leads and four ties - the Huskies ended the game on a 12-3 run to seal their fourth double-digit comeback this season, 67-62.
• The Northern Illinois University defense was the highlight of the fourth quarter as it held the Broncos to 30 percent shooting and 12 points.
• Offensively, the Huskies scored 24 points in the final frame and were 7-of-17 from the field. Cassidy Glenn, who finished with 18 points in the game, scored 10 points in the stanza and knocked down the go-ahead three with 2:01 left.
• A credit to Western Michigan's game plan of dictating the pace of play, the Huskies 76 possessions in the game were a season-low, lowering their season average to 80.5 possessions per game.
• It was the first time since Head Coach Lisa Carlsen's Mid-American Conference debut at Akron on Jan. 2, 2016 that the Huskies scored less than 70 points and won (65-58).
• In its last triumph shooting less than 40 percent, NIU was a like 23-for-60 from the field when it defeated Bradley, 68-64, on Dec. 21, 2015.

ROLLIN' ON 20'S WITH COURTNEY WOODS
• Over the last calendar year, Courtney Woods has been one of the Mid-American Conference's most consistent scorers.
• Fourth in the MAC and 66th nationally in points per game with a rate of 17.6 points per game, Woods notched her 10th game with 20-or-more points versus Western Michigan last Saturday.
• It was the 13th time she's reached the plateau in her last 27 games, in which, she has also scored in double figures 24 times.
• Woods' 10 performances are tied for the second-most in the MAC this season behind the conference's leading scorer Larissa Lurken (18) of Kent State and Ohio's Quiera Lampkins (10).
• Perhaps the most impressive part of her feat is that Woods has five other players around her averaging double-figures while Kent State and Ohio have a combined three players averaging 10-or-more points per game.
• She's the first Huskie since Stephanie Raymond in 2006-07 to record the feat at least 10 times in a season when the First Team All-MAC selection reached the mark 16 times.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
• In the last 51 games, senior Ally Lehman has recorded 28 double-doubles including two triple-doubles this season.
• Though the Huskies 21 outings this season, Lehman has recorded the feat 13 times, two shy of matching her mark of 15 last season.
• The Nineveh, Ind., is 10th in the country and the only guard ranked in the top-30. 
• Nine times this season, Lehman registered a points-assist double-double while recording the accomplishment four times with points-assists, tying the program's record for 10-assist games in a season.
• With her diversity in reaching the double-double mark, she is sixth at NIU in career rebounds with 888 and is third all-time in assists with 463. 
• Lehman is 37 helpers shy of becoming just the second player in history to reach 500 dimes in a career and 112 boards from becoming the sixth Huskies - the first guard - to crash 1,000 boards.
• Lehman is 19th at NIU in scoring at 1,187 points.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Central Michigan, the MAC's preseason favorite in the coaches poll, is 16-6 with an 8-2 mark in Mid-American Conference games.
• The Chippewas are 2-2  on the road in MAC play and 3-5 overall this season, coming off a 104-63 triumph at Eastern Michigan on Feb. 4.
• CMU is No. 2 in scoring average this season with a clip of 76.0 points per game and has broken through the 100-point barrier twice versus conference foes.
• Four different Chips are averaging double-figures, led by Presley Hudson's 17.7 points per game. The sophomore scored a CMU record 43 points in a 101-96 victory versus Ball State on Jan. 11.
• Post players Tinara Moore and Reyna Frost are averaging a combined 24.2 points and 18.0 rebounds per game, paced by Moore's 15.6 points and Frost's MAC-best 11.1 rebounds per game.
• On Dec. 19, CMU hosted Illinois at McGuirk Arena and defeated the Illini, 82-51.

THREE-POINT NIGHTMARES
• Opposing teams have had fits trying to stop the Huskies behind the three-point line this season as they rank 17th in three-pointers per game (8.3), 18th in percentage (.379) and 38th in three-point field goals made (175).
• And though NIU ranks high in conversions, it's only 100th in total attempts with 462.
• However, it isn't just one player knocking down all the shots. Though Courtney Woods leads the team in three-point field goals (70) by a significant margin (36), both Cassidy Glenn and Mikayla Voigt have each gone 34-for-90 (.374) from beyond the arc.
• Against the Broncos, both Woods and Glenn drained four baskets from the three-point line, the fifth time this season NIU has recorded the feat. The Huskies have exploited their foes three times (Miami, Ball State, Western Michigan) in the last four games.
• Northern Illinois is 4-1 when two different players each record four three-pointers in a game. Its only loss occurred at Drake on Nov. 30.

THE COMEBACK KIDS
• For the second-straight game, the NIU Huskies overcame a double-digit deficit when it mounted a 14-point comeback against Western Michigan to claim a 67-62 victory,
• It was the largest comeback for Northern Illinois this season, besting 12-point comebacks at Kent State on Jan. 11 and versus Milwaukee on Nov. 16.
• A 12-0 run to end the second quarter started the Huskies bid and a 12-3 run at the end of the final period sealed their triumph.
• At Ball State on Jan. 28, NIU trailed the Cardinals by 11 points in the opening frame before trading blows and closing the night 11-of-15 from the field in the fourth quarter.
• Two and a half weeks earlier, the Golden Flashes led the Huskies by 12 points with under a minute to go in the third quarter.
• Started by a pair of makes at the free throw line by Janae Poisson with 0.9 seconds left, the Huskies outscored Kent State 30-19 in the fourth quarter to emerge from the M.A.C. Center with a 98-97 victory. Poisson tallied a season-best 27 points in the effort.
• Led by Ally Lehman's Mid-American Conference record 48 points, NIU tallied its first comeback of the season against Milwaukee on Nov. 11.
• The Huskies trailed by 12 points in the first quarter and continued to trade blow with the Panthers until Lehman took charge with a game-tying three in the first overtime to rally NIU to a 20-7 scoring run in the final 6 six minutes as it won, 114-104.
• The Huskies' senior class - Cassidy Glenn, Amber Gray and Lehman - have posted nine comebacks of 10-or-more points in the last four years with at least one each season, matching the 2006-10 Huskies feat of nine games.

DIVERSITY IN ITS SCORING
• In the last seven wins, the Huskies have relied on different scorers in each game to carry them to victory with duos teaming together versus Toledo and Miami, and a sextet against Kent State.
• Most recently, Courtney Woods was the lone Huskie to summit the 20-point plateau as she scored 20 points. It was her second-straight 20-point game and third time in the last eight games she's led the team in points.
• Mikayla Voigt led versus the Golden Flashes with 18 points, however, five other Huskies scored in double figures alongside Voigt with four scorers between 15 and 18 points. 
• Cassidy Glenn registered 24 points versus Ohio, taking 22 of the team's 59 shots and closing the afternoon with a .409 field goal percentage.
• At the start of NIU's road trip two weeks ago at Kent State, Janae Poisson scored the first 20-point off the bench for NIU since 2014 with career-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
• Ally Lehman and Woods combined at Savage Arena versus the Rockets, scoring 20 and 21, respectively.
• Versus the RedHawks finally, Glenn and Woods combined 53 of NIU's 89 points paced by Glenn's career-high 32 points. 
• In four of the seven wins, NIU had at least five scorers reach double figures.

NEXT UP
• Northern Illinois University will begin a stretch of four road games in their next five contests when it heads to Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 11. Tipoff at Alumni Arena is set for 1 p.m, Central. The game will air live on ESPN3.