Women's Basketball | December 11

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team puts its seven-game on the line Monday night when it travels to Lindenwood for its first-ever meeting against the Lions. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+ as well as Sports Fan 1330 AM and the NIU Huskies app.
 
NIU (7-1) moved up two spots in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week to number 13 after its 71-69 win at Eastern Illinois on Dec. 3. The Huskies are one of three Mid-American Conference teams in the top 15 with Toledo fifth and Kent State ninth.
 
Senior guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led NIU with a season-high 26 points in the win at Eastern Illinois, making the game-winning shot with 2.2 seconds left. She was named both MAC Player of the Week and MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week this week, becoming the second Huskie in as many weeks to accomplish that. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) earned both honors the week of Nov. 28. Koker leads the MAC with 5.0 assists per game and is fourth with a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio.
 
The Huskies' seven-game winning streak has been powered by one of the top three-point shooting attacks in the nation. NIU is eighth in the nation with 9.8 three-pointers per game. The Huskies have made at least seven threes in a game six times in the first eight games of the 2022-23 season. NIU is also 12^th in the country in three-point field goal percentage, making 39.2 percent of its three-point attempts.
 
Lindenwood (0-7) is the fourth opponent NIU is facing for the first time this season. NIU has gone 3-0 in those games, defeating Southern Indiana, Navy and Richmond. The Lions are looking for their first win as a Division I program after reclassifying from Division II this summer. Lindenwood was last in action on Dec. 4, a 79-46 loss at Tulsa. Emily Benzschawel led the Lions with 20 points off the bench. She leads Lindenwood with 11.1 points per game. Sophomore guard Mary McGrath averages 10.0 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.
 
NIU returns to the Convocation Center on Saturday, Dec. 17 for a 12 p.m. matchup against SIUE. For tickets, log on to NIUHuskies.com or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).
 
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