DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team goes on the road Saturday to face the Mid-American Conference west division leaders Central Michigan at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and can be heard locally on WLBK 98.9 FM and 1360 AM.
 
NIU (16-9, 8-5 MAC) moved to 5-1 in the month of February on Monday night with a 77-64 win over Western Michigan at the NIU Convocation Center. Sophomore Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) led the Huskies with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Her 17 points tied a career-high. Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half. The Huskies shot at least 50 percent in each quarter and outscored the Broncos 23-9 in the second to take a 45-29 halftime lead.
 
Senior guard Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) earned First Team Academic All-District® honors on Thursday as the College Sports Information Directors of America announced its 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Women's Basketball Team. Voigt has been named the MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week twice this season. The nursing major is carrying a 3.93 grade point average. Voigt is fifth in the MAC in scoring at 19.8 points per game, and third in free throw shooting at 84.1 percent.
 
Saturday's game pits the two best rebounding teams in the MAC against each other. NIU leads the conference with 42 rebounds per game, with Central Michigan averaging 40.5 rebounds per game. The Chippewas lead the MAC with an 8.8 rebound margin. NIU is 14-0 this season when outrebounding the opposition, with a +6.8 rebound margin in its last four wins. Monday night's win over Western Michigan was the ninth time this season that the Huskies had a double-digit rebound margin, 43-31.
 
Central Michigan (19-6, 10-3 MAC) leads the all-time series against the Huskies 34-22. The Chippewas have won each of the last eight meetings against NIU, including an 89-66 victory at the Convocation Center on Jan. 12. Central Michigan won its third game on the bounce Wednesday night, and sixth in the last seven, with a 92-54 win at Bowling Green. Presley Hudson made six three-pointers on her way to a game-high 24 points, adding nine assists. Reyna Frost had her third 20-20 game of the season with 21 points and 20 rebounds with four blocked shots. Central Michigan shot 66.7 percent in the first quarter to take a 31-17 lead. Hudson and Frost are second and third, respectively, in the MAC in scoring with 21 and 20.5 points per game. The Chippewas are second in the conference in scoring at 79.8 points per game.
 
Following Saturday's game, the Huskies are home to face Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by visiting NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
 
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