Women's Basketball | November 15

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team wraps up its season-opening three-game road trip Thursday night at Southern Indiana. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at Screaming Eagles Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as locally on WDKB 94-9 FM and the NIU Huskies and Varsity Network apps.
 
NIU (0-2) looks for its first win of the season after a loss at Western Illinois last Sunday. Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) led the Huskies with 16 points against the Leathernecks, adding three assists and three steals. Marable is averaging a team-high 13.0 points and 4.5 assists per game to start the year.
 
The Huskies got a lift from its bench on Sunday, with 23 points from the reserves after just six in the season opener at Arkansas State on Nov. 9. Freshman guard Shannon Blacher (Burr Ridge, Ill./Montini Catholic) led the charge with 10 points, the first points of her NIU career. Moriah Prewitt (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian School) tied career-highs of six points, three rebounds and two assists.
 
NIU is third in the nation in three-point attempts in the early part of the 2023-24 season. The Huskies are averaging 33.5 three-point field goal attempts per game, behind only Penn (38.0/game) and Utah (42.5/game). Over half of NIU's field goal attempts for the season have come from the three-point arc. Last season NIU was third in the Mid-American Conference in threes per game at 8.1, fourth in attempts at 23.9 per game and fifth in three-point percentage at 33.8 percent.
 
Southern Indiana (2-0) is coming off an 86-38 victory over Oakland City last Sunday after opening the year with a win over Wright State. Meredith Raley and Addy Blackwell each had a team-high 13 points for the Screaming Eagles in the win over Oakland City. Raley, along with senior forward Madison Webb, lead Southern Indiana in scoring at 11.0 points per game. The Screaming Eagles have a +20.5 rebound margin through two games and are averaging over 75 points per game.
 
NIU hosts Lindenwood in its home opener at the Convocation Center on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. Huskie basketball season tickets are on sale now. Women's basketball season tickets start at $35 for general admission seats and $50 for reserved tickets. NIU faculty and staff, members of the NIU Alumni Association or Varsity Club and senior citizens can purchase women's basketball season tickets for $40.
 
The new "Run it Back with the Pack" plan is also on sale, "Run it Back with the Pack" tickets are $15 for a women's basketball general admission ticket.
 
For more information on season tickets, including courtside and premium seating opportunities, call 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
-- NIU --