GAME INFO
Eastern Michigan (8-9, 4-2) – NIU (10-7, 2-4)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018
Time: 1 PM CT
Location: DeKalb, Ill. • Convocation Center
TV: ESPN3
Radio: 98.9 FM & 1360 AM WLBK
 
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Saturday's game with Eastern Michigan is Star Wars Day at the Convocation Center. Fans are encouraged to dress as their favorite Star Wars character to receive a two-for-one ticket. Fans that bring a book donation will also receive an exclusive NIU Women's Basketball poster.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Eastern Michigan owns a 34-14 record in the all-time series history, including a 16-8 mark in DeKalb. However, NIU won both meetings last year, defeating the Eagles, 85-73, on New Year's Eve at home and in Ypsilanti, Mich., 81-71. The Huskies have won three of the last four meetings in the NIU Convocation Center with the last Eastern Michigan win in DeKalb coming on Jan. 8, 2016 when the EMU escaped with an 87-80 overtime victory.
 
WHEN LAST WE MET
Four Huskies finished in double figures and NIU hit 10 three-pointers as the Huskies scored an 81-71 win over Eastern Michigan at the Convocation Center. It was the 12th Mid-American Conference victory for NIU, setting a new standard for MAC wins in a single season. Courtney Woods led the way for the Huskies with 22 points, while Kelly Smith recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
           
LAST TIME OUT
The Huskies suffered an 81-78 setback to Central Michigan at the Convocation Center Wednesday. It was the second consecutive three-point loss for NIU and the sixth straight game decided by five points or less. Three Huskies finished in double figures, with Courtney Woods leading the way. The Huskie junior recorded her third double-double of the season with a game-high 25 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Kelly Smith finished with 21 points, while Mikayla Voigt added 15.
 
CLOSE CALLS
All six of NIU's conference games have been decided by five points or less, including a three-point setback to Central Michigan Wednesday night. Last season, NIU participated in eight games decided by five points or less, winning six and losing two. The Huskies have played in six games less this season decided by three points or and are 3-3 in such contests.
 
TWO TO TANGO
The Huskies' 86-84 win over Buffalo was the third straight game and fourth of the season to be decided by two points or less. NIU is 3-1 in such contests with a 96-94 win over Western Illinois, and an 81-79 triumph over Kent State. The Huskies' only loss by two points or less this season was a 67-65 decision at Miami in the conference opener.
 
WORKING OVERTIME
NIU improved to 1-1 in overtime games this season and 28-25 all-time when it defeated Buffalo, 86-84, in overtime in the Convocation Center. The Huskies fell to Albany, 97-91, in overtime on Dec. 21, 2017 in NIU's final game in Puerto Rico. NIU is 2-3 in overtime affairs under Lisa Carlsen and are 4-2 in double overtime contests all-time.
 
HUSKIES AT HOME
NIU fell to 5-1 at home this season and 322-219 all-time when it fell to Central Michigan Wednesday night. The Huskies are 19-12 in the Convocation Center under NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen.
 
PURSUING 1,000
Mikayla Voigt is 46 points away from joining her teammates in the 1,000-career-point club with 954 career points following her 15-point effort versus Central Michigan. She scored a career best 380 points last year. The Huskies have never had three players score their 1,000th career point in the same season. The last time more than one Huskie scored their 1,000th career point in the same season was 1993-94 when E.C. Hill and Angela Lockett accomplished the feat.
 
NIU IN THE MAC
The Huskies fell to 160-238 all time in Mid-American Conference games after their setback to Central Michigan Wednesday night in the Convocation Center. NIU is 18-23 in league play under head coach Lisa Carlsen.
 
NIU VS. MAC WEST
With its loss to Central Michigan, the Huskies fell to 97-171 all-time and 0-3 this season versus teams from the Mid-American Conference's West Division. NIU is 7-17 versus West foes under Lisa Carlsen, including a 6-6 mark last year.
 
MONEY FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Mikayla Voight, who entered the season as NIU's career leader in free throw percentage, improved her percentage to .840, one point ahead of Stephanie Raymond (2003-07), who owns an .839 free throw percentage after going 1-for-2 in NIU's game versus Central Michigan. Voigt has hit 36-of-45 from the free throw line this season and 142-169 for her career.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Courtney Woods recorded her team-best third double-double of the season when she scored 25 points and hauled in 10 rebounds against the Chippewas. The Aussie also posted double-doubles versus Western Illinois (Nov. 18) and Buffalo (Jan. 6). Woods and Ally May are the only two Huskies with multiple double-double games. May posted her double-doubles against Western Illinois and Miami.
 
Player                                                 Game                     Pts.             Rebs.           Assist
Courtney Woods                  C. Michigan      25            10            --
Mikayla Voigt                       Toledo             16            --            10
Courtney Woods                  Buffalo            17            10            --
Ally May                              Miami              16            11            --
Myia Starks                         Albany             19            10            --
Kelly Smith                          Chicago St.      23            10            --
Courtney Woods                  W. Illinois         39            11            --
Ally May                              W. Illinois         10            16            --
           
IN THE NIK OF TIME
Gabby Nikitinaite finished with a career-high 17 points at Western Michigan. The Huskie guard went 6-of-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line in 19 minutes of play.
 
POINT TAKEN
Mikayla Voigt scored a career-high 26 points in NIU's overtime victory over Buffalo in the Convocation Center. The Huskie junior went 8-of-19 from the field, including 4-for-11 from three-point territory, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. She surpassed her previous career best of 25 set in NIU's overtime setback to Albany in Puerto Rico.
 
ON THE BOARDS
Sophomore Abby Woollacott turned in her best rebounding performance of her career in NIU's victory over Buffalo, hauling in 13 rebounds and scoring a season-high six points against the Bulls. Her previous career high was 10 rebounds last year versus Ohio (Jan. 7).
 
HUSKIE HARDWARE
Courtney Woods earned a share of the MAC West Player of the Week following her performances against Kent State and Buffalo. She tied her career high in points with 39 against the Golden Flashes and scored a double-double against the Bulls. It was the junior's second such honor this season. She earned the same honor Nov. 21 following a pair of double-digit scoring efforts against Western Illinois and at Iowa. Myia Starks earned MAC West Player of the Week accolades following her performance at SIUE. The Huskie sophomore set personal bests including points scored (25), made field goals (7), field goals attempted (11), free throws made (11) and field goals attempted (12).
 
CARLSEN CLIMBING
Lisa Carlsen enters her third season as head coach of the NIU Women's Basketball team. She has a 42-38 record at NIU for a .525 winning percentage, which ties her with Rita Horky (1981-83), who finished with a .525 winning percentage (31-28). With the win over Loyola, Carlsen surpassed Liz Galloway-McQuitter for sixth all-time at NIU in wins and has a career record of 226-198 in 15 seasons as a head coach. She needs six wins to pass Alice Textor (1977-81), who tallied a 47-46 record.
 
OUT OF THE WOODS
Courtney Woods tied her career high in points scored, tallying 39 in NIU's victory over Kent State. The Huskie junior went a career-high 11-of-19 from the field, including 10-of-12 from the free throw line, also career bests in both categories. Woods also hit a career-high seven three pointers in the contest.
 
ON THE REBOUND
NIU tied a Convocation Center record for rebounds in a game when it grabbed a season-high 59 rebounds. The last time the Huskies had 59 rebounds at home was Nov. 11, 2011 versus Western Illinois. Last season, the Huskies had five games of 50 rebounds or more, hauling in a season-high 57 versus Illinois State.
 
DEFENDING THE GLASS
NIU recorded a season-high 42 defensive rebounds in its victory over the Bulls as the Huskies out-rebounded Buffalo, 59-58. The Huskies lead the MAC and are 11th in the country in defensive rebounds, grabbing 30 a game. NIU ranks third in the league and 58th in country in rebounds per game, averaging 41.3.
 
MILLENNIALS
Courtney Woods and Kelly Smith became the first Huskie teammates to reach the 1,000-career point plateau in the same game, almost on back-to-back buckets, as the Huskie duo scored 22 and 18 points, respectively, in NIU's victory over Loyola. Woods scored her 1,000th-point on the Huskies' second to last basket of the first half, while Smith hit NIU's opening shot of the second half to score her 1,000th-career point. Woods has 1,203 career points in 80 games at NIU, while Smith is right behind her with 1,159 in 104 contests.
 
CASTRO'S CAREER BESTS
Redshirt freshman Paulina Castro established career highs in five offensive categories including points (12) field goals made (4), field goals attempted (6), three pointers made (4) and three pointers attempted (6) in NIU's victory over Sacramento State. Castro saw the first action of her NIU career when she started in the Huskies' season opener at Eastern Illinois. Castro, who sat out all of the 2016-17 season battling Hodgkins Lymphoma, collected one rebound and one assist in 10 minutes of play against the Panthers.
 
BRAGGING RIGHTS
With its 86-75 victory at SIUE, NIU improved to 125-123 against Division I teams from the state of Illinois and completed the season sweep of their Illinois opponents, going 6-0 versus in-state rivals. In addition to their win over the Cougars, the Huskies defeated Eastern Illinois, 93-64, in the season opener, Western Illinois, 96-94, Chicago State, 80-59, Bradley, 76-52 and Loyola, 80-71. The Huskies have won their last 10 games versus in-state foes and 15 of their last 16. The Huskies' only loss during that stretch was an 83-79 setback at Western Illinois. NIU is 15-2 overall under Lisa Carlsen against Illinois opponents. The last time the Huskies went undefeated versus teams from the Land of Lincoln was 1989-90 when NIU went 9-0 against in-state competition.
 
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONOREE
Junior Mikayla Voigt tallied 19 points in an 80-59 win at Chicago State and against Lamar on 5-of-12 in the tournament finale at the 2017 UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. Those performances, coupled with her 4.0 GPA while pursuing her bachelors degree in nursing, helped her earn MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors from the MAC on Nov. 30. She is the first NIU woman to win the award this year and the second Huskie, joining Football's Jackson Abresch.
 
MAY I HELP YOU
Ally May set career bests in blocks and steals with two in each category against Bradley. She also established career highs in several categories including points (10), field goals made (5), field goal attempts (11) and rebounds (16) in NIU's win over Western Illinois earlier this season. It was also her first career double-double.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Huskies had a season-high five players finish in double figures in their win over Western Illinois. Last season, NIU accomplished the feat seven times and Saturday's quintet of double-digit scorers are the most since Jan. 25, 2017 when six Huskies finished in double figures against Kent State. Courtney Woods led the way with 39 points and Mikayla Voigt followed with 16. Kelly Smith and Janae Poisson tallied 14 and 11 points, respectively, while May finished with 11.
 
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Five Huskies saw their first action in NIU's season-opening victory at Eastern Illinois headlined by redshirt freshman Paulina Castro, who made her first career start for NIU. Riley Blackwell tallied eight points and grabbed three rebounds in nine minutes. Gabby Nikitinaite scored five points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists. Nicole Orr, who sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules scored four points in two minutes, while Errin Hodges played nine minutes.
 
SEEKING A POSTSEASON ENCORE
The Huskies, who made their first postseason appearance since 1995 when they participated in the 2017 Women's National Invitational Tournament, are looking to make it consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 1994-95. NIU made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1993-94 and 1994-95.
 
WELCOME NEWCOMERS
NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen welcomed two new members to her staff for this year. Maria Kasza joined NIU as an assistant coach, while Quinn Rear was added to the staff as director of basketball operations. Kasza came to NIU after spending the last five seasons as an assistant at Michigan Tech. Rear joined the NIU staff following two seasons as a graduate assistant at Truman State.
 
FOREIGN HUSKIES
Freshman Gabby Nikitinaite, a native of Orpington, Kent, United Kingdom, is the second foreign player on the Huskie roster. She joins Courtney Woods, who hails from Brisbane, Australia.
 
HALL CALL
Huskies women's basketball legend Angela Lockett was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 6, 2017. Lockett, who starred for the Huskies from 1990-92, 1993-95 was a scoring and rebounding force who helped guide the NIU women's basketball team to the postseason in each of her four seasons on the court. Seventh on NIU's all-time scoring list, she also led NIU in rebounding for four seasons, closing her career with 1,014 career boards, the third best mark in school history.
 
TWENTY-ONE AND OVER
The Huskies are coming off a 21-12 record in 2016-17. It was NIU's first 20-win season since 1993-94 and the sixth in school history. The school record for wins in a season is 26 set in 1989-90 when the Huskies posted a 26-5 record.