Women's Basketball | December 2

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team puts its six-game winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon when it takes on the undefeated Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena. Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on ESPN+ as well as WDKB 94-9 locally and the NIU Huskies and Varsity Network apps.
 
NIU (6-1) extended its winning streak last week with wins at Detroit Mercy and against Navy and Richmond at the Navy Classic last weekend. This is NIU's longest winning streak since the 2016-17 season when the Huskies also won six straight. The Huskies entered the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll on Tuesday at #15. NIU is one of five Mid-American Conference teams in the Mid-Major poll, joining Toledo (#6), Kent State (#11), Bowling Green (#18) and Ball State (#21).
 
The Huskies are averaging 77.7 points per game during this current winning streak, winning by an average of 16.0 points per game. NIU is among the top 10 teams in the country in three-point shooting. As a team, the Huskies are sixth with 10.1 three-pointers per game and 11^th in three-point field goal percentage at 40.1 percent. NIU is also sharing the basketball at a rate of 16.6 assists per game, second-most in the MAC.
 
Senior forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) earned two weekly honors from the MAC this week for her play last week. Davis was named the MAC Player of the Week along with Scholar-Athlete of the Week after averaging 17.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game in NIU's three wins. She had a double-double in each game, leading NIU with 20 points and a season-high 14 rebounds in the 67-64 last-second win over Richmond on Nov. 27.
 
Davis enters Saturday's game 19 points away from 1,000 for her career. She leads the Huskies with 15.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Davis is second in the MAC in rebounding at among the top 25 players in offensive rebounds with four per game.
 
Eastern Illinois (6-0) won its sixth consecutive game Monday night with a 96-67 win over Wright State. Senior guard Lariah Washington led all scorers with 23 points as Miah Monahan added 17 points and five assists. The 96 points were a season-high for the Panthers who are averaging 78 points per game this season. Washington leads the team with 18.5 points per game.
 
NIU leads the all-time series 21-13. The Huskies had won five games in a row against Eastern Illinois before the Panthers won 87-81 in last season's Compass Challenge at Western Illinois.
 
The current five-game road trip concludes on Monday, Dec. 12 at Lindenwood.
 
--NIU--