DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team goes on the road for the first time in Mid-American Conference play Saturday to take on the Bowling Green Falcons at the Stroh Center. Tipoff is at 11 a.m. with the game being broadcast on ESPN3.
 
NIU (3-5, 1-2 MAC) opened the month of January with its best defensive effort of the season so far in a 73-56 win over Western Michigan on Jan. 2. The 56 points allowed was a season low, as was the Broncos' 32.4 percent shooting from the field. The Huskies held Western Michigan to just six points in the second quarter to mark the first time NIU has held an opponent under 10 points in a quarter this season.
 
Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led all scorers in the game with 21 points. It was her fifth 20-point effort of the season. Koker was 6-for-6 at the free throw line against Western Michigan to bump up her free throw percentage to 97.3, 16^th-best in the country. She is fifth in the MAC in scoring at 20.3 points per game and three-pointers per game with 2.5.
 
The Huskies had a season-high 32 bench points in last week's win over Western Michigan. Freshman guard Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) had a career-high 14 points in 13 minutes against the Broncos, making 5-of-7 shots from the field with a pair of three-pointers. Marable has scored 21 points in her last two games and shot 80 percent from the field. As a team NIU is averaging 25 bench points per game this season.
 
Bowling Green (8-1, 4-0 MAC) kept its spot atop the MAC standings Wednesday with a 73-48 win at Western Michigan. Lexi Fleming and Kadie Hempfling each had 16 points for the Falcons in their fourth consecutive win. Bowling Green has the top scoring defense in the MAC, allowing 60.4 points per game. The Falcons have held six of their eight opponents to 60 points or less. Bowling Green leads the all-time series with NIU 24-18. The Huskies have won each of the last five meetings, including last season's 92-87 overtime victory in Bowling Green.
 
Following Saturday's game, NIU returns home to host Central Michigan on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Although fans are unable to attend NIU basketball games this season, you can still make your presence felt in the NIU Convocation Center by purchasing a cutout as part of the "Huskie Howl" presented by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). For just $60, fans can put their image on a cutout that will remain in place in the NIU Convocation Center for all NIU men's and women's basketball games during the 2020-21 season. Net proceeds from all fan cutouts will benefit the Huskie Athletic Fund. Click here to order your cutout.
 
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