DeKALB, IL – Winners of three straight games, the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team looks to stay perfect in January Saturday when it travels to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami RedHawks at Millett Hall. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. with the game being broadcast on ESPN+.
 
NIU (5-5, 3-2 MAC) handed Central Michigan its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Chippewas 104-73. The Huskies shot a season-high 58 percent from the field and 53.6 percent from the three-point line in becoming the first MAC team this season to score 100 points or more. In its three wins this month, NIU is averaging 85 points per game while allowing 66.7.
 
Six Huskies scored in double figures in the win over the Chippewas led by junior forward Mikayla Brandon's (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) career-high 18 points. Brandon was 4-for-5 from the three-point line and added five rebounds and three assists. Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) also made four threes on Wednesday. She made three straight three-pointers as part of a 12-2 run to start the third quarter that put NIU ahead 66-33. Castro is 9-for-16 from the three-point line over the last two games.
 
A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) had her second double-double of the season Wednesday with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. She also added a career-high four assists. In four games against MAC opposition Davis is averaging 12.3 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field.
 
NIU made 15 three-pointers in Wednesday's win, its second-highest total from long distance this season. On Dec. 4 the Huskies made a single-game program record 18 threes in a win at Eastern Illinois. NIU is second in the MAC, and sixth nationally, in three-pointers per game at 10.7. NIU has made at least 10 threes in a game six times this season.
 
Miami is 1-9 on the season and 0-6 in the MAC after a 61-41 loss to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. Peyton Scott led the RedHawks with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Kelly McLaughlin added 11 points. Scott leads Miami in scoring and assists, averaging 17.8 points and 4.8 assists per game. The RedHawks lead the MAC in rebound margin at +8.2. The all-time series between NIU and Miami is tied 21-21 with the two teams splitting last season's two games by a total of four points.
 
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