Women's Basketball | February 25

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team goes on the road Saturday for a 12 p.m. matchup against the Ball State Cardinals at Worthen Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
The Huskies enter Saturday's game tied with Kent State for fifth in the Mid-American Conference at 9-8 with three games to go. Ball State is fourth at 9-7. The top eight teams qualify for the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Championship, to be held March 9-12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
 
NIU (12-13, 9-8 MAC) has won three of its last four games following Wednesday night's 72-65 win over Eastern Michigan at the NIU Convocation Center. Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) sparked a 9-2 run to close out the win with a pair of three-pointers in the final 2:30. She finished the game with five threes and 17 points. Nia Ahart (Detroit, Mich./Colgate) set career-highs with six three-pointers and a game-high 20 points.
 
A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) recorded her 20th double-double of the season Wednesday night. The junior forward had 18 points and 12 rebounds against Eastern Michigan, her ninth straight double-double. She also added a career-high seven assists. In those nine games Davis is averaging 16.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Davis joins DePaul's Aneesah Morrow and Aliyah Boston of South Carolina as the only players in NCAA Division I women's basketball with at least 20 double-doubles this season.
 
Ball State (16-10, 9-7 MAC) won both games of a home-and-home series with Western Michigan earlier this week, winning on the road Wednesday night 64-56. Annie Rauch was 10-for-10 from the field against Broncos for 22 points, adding eight rebounds. Sydney Freeman added 18 points for the Cardinals. Ball State leads the MAC with 15.6 assists per game and is second in field goal percentage at 43.1 percent. The Cardinals won the first meeting between the two teams 83-82 in overtime at the Convocation Center on January 5. The Huskies erased a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to force extra time, but Ball State tipped in a missed free throw in the final seconds to take the win.
 
The Huskies play their final road game of the regular season on Wednesday, March 2 at Toledo. Tip-off at Savage Arena is at 6 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--