Women's Basketball | January 10

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team will go after a second consecutive conference victory Wednesday night when it heads to University Arena to take on the Western Michigan Broncos. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on ESPN+ as well as locally on WDKB 94-9 FM, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.
 
NIU (9-4, 1-1 MAC) snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday in dramatic fashion, rallying from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to Mid-American Conference preseason favorites Toledo and winning 67-66 at the Convocation Center. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) and Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) combined for 24 of the Huskies' 31 points in the final period, with Davis making the game-winning free throw with 1.4 seconds left.
 
Davis led all scorers in the game with 22 points and added 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. She had 13 points and seven rebounds in the fourth quarter comeback. Davis is second in the MAC in both field goal percentage at 56.1 percent and rebounds with 11.1 per game. Koker scored in double figures for the seventh straight game with 21 points, chipping in a game-high six assists. It was her fourth 20-point game of the season and the third time both Koker and Davis had at least 20 points in a game.
 
Saturday's win was the ninth time this season that NIU held an opponent under 70 points in a game. The Huskies also had a season-low nine turnovers in the win over Toledo with just one coming in the second half. It was the first time NIU had less than 10 turnovers in a game since Jan. 5, 2022 against Ball State.
 
Western Michigan (5-8, 0-2 MAC) was picked to finish sixth in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll. The Broncos are looking for their first league win after a 76-70 loss to Ball State last Saturday. Redshirt-Junior forward Taylor Williams led Western Michigan with 25 points and had six rebounds. Hannah Spitzley had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Lauren Ross, the MAC's leading scorer at 21.0 points per game, had 10 points. NIU won both meetings against the Broncos last season and have won six of the last nine overall.
 
The Huskies return to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 14 to face the Ohio Bobcats at 1 p.m. CT. For tickets, log on to NIUHuskies.com or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). General Admission tickets are $6 with reserved seats at $8.
 
--NIU--