DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team plays its first home games in over six weeks this week when it hosts the Compass Challenge at the NIU Convocation Center Thursday and Friday.
 
This is the second year of the event that features NIU, Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, and Western Illinois. It is the first year that it will be played like a true tournament with a trophy going to the champions. It opens Thursday at 4:30 p.m. with Southern Illinois against Western Illinois. NIU will then take on Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m. On Friday, Eastern Illinois will play in the 4:30 game against either SIU or Western Illinois and NIU will play at 7 p.m.
 
For Thursday night's game, NIU will be holding a Holiday Toy Drive. Fans can bring an unwrapped toy to the Convocation Center for a free ticket to the game. It is also Star Wars Night. On Friday kids 13 and under can receive a $3 ticket. Tickets for the Compass Challenge, and for all remaining home games including flex passes, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
NIU (3-5) wrapped up its seven-game road swing on December 5^th with a 78-65 loss at Milwaukee. The Huskies led by 10 points with 6:13 to play in the third quarter, but the Panthers shot 58.3 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and closed the game on an 18-2 run. Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) and Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) each had a team-high 19 points and were a combined 16-for-25 from the field. NIU shot 40 percent from the field despite going 7-for-29 from the three-point line.
 
Woods is closing in on the NIU career three-pointers record. She enters this week with 275 made threes, putting her three behind Kylie York's (2006-10) program record of 278. Woods is sixth among active NCAA Division I players in career three-pointers as well as points with 1,809. She is two points away from passing Lisa Starosta (1980-85) for fourth place on the NIU career scoring chart. Woods is fourth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring at 18.5 points per game.
 
Following the Compass Challenge, NIU wraps up a three-game homestand against Drake on Sunday, December 29^th at 2 p.m.
 
--NIU--