DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team takes on the Central Michigan Chippewas Wednesday afternoon in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
This is the third time in the last five years the Huskies are headed for Cleveland. In 2019 NIU went to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as the seventh seed, its seed for this year's tournament, and took on Ohio. The Huskies reached the championship game in 2017, defeating Ohio and Western Michigan in the process.
 
NIU (12-11, 10-8 MAC) and Central Michigan split the regular season series this season, with the home team winning each meeting. The Huskies shot a season-high 58 percent from the field on Jan. 13 in a 104-73 victory at the NIU Convocation Center. Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) led six Huskies in double figure scoring with a career-high 18 points. Central Michigan won the regular season finale 74-68 last Saturday in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The Chippewas have won three of the four postseason meetings against NIU.
 
The Huskies had a pair of student-athletes earn postseason honors from the MAC on Tuesday. Redshirt-Junior guard Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) was named the Sixth Player of the Year after leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 46.5 percent. She is sixth in the nation in three-point percentage and fifth in the league with 2.3 three-pointers per game. Poisson is NIU's third-leading scorer on the year at 9.2 points per game and has scored in double figures 11 times off the bench.
 
Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team by leading NIU in scoring and assists, averaging 21.0 points and 3.8 assists per game. Koker leads the MAC in free throw percentage at 88.9 percent which puts her 14^th in the country. She is also among the top-10 in the league in scoring, assists, three-point field goals per game and field goal percentage. Koker has 12 20-point games on the season following a game-high 28 points against the Chippewas last Saturday. On Feb. 8, Koker scored a career-high 34 points in NIU's 78-74 win at Ball State.
 
NIU is among the top-15 teams in the nation in three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goals per game. The Huskies are 12^th in the country, and lead the MAC, in three-point field goal percentage at 38.1 percent. They are also 13^th in three-pointers per game at 9.1, second in the conference behind Central Michigan.
 
Central Michigan (15-8, 13-6 MAC) enters the tournament as the number two seed having won five of its last seven games. The Chippewas lead the MAC in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-pointers per game. Central Michigan is also second in the conference in scoring, averaging 76.7 points per game. Senior guard Micaela Kelly leads the Chippewas in scoring at 23.4 points per game with sophomore Molly Davis adding 20.2 points per game.
 
The winner of the NIU-Central Michigan quarterfinal will meet the winner of the Ohio-Ball State matchup on Friday, March 12 at 11:30 a.m. CT in the MAC Tournament semifinals.
 
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