Women's Basketball | November 20
DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team plays its first home game of the 2023-24 season Tuesday night when the Lindenwood Lions come to the NIU Convocation Center. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as locally on WDKB 94-9 FM, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.
Tuesday night is also Military Appreciation night. Armed forces veterans and active military can receive free admission with their military ID, while their guests can receive $5 tickets. Season ticket prices to see every game of the NIU women's basketball season range from $35 to $50. Go online to NIUHuskies.com/myhuskies to purchase your NIU basketball season ticket memberships today.
The Huskies were 9-4 on the home floor last season. NIU enters Tuesday's game on a four-game home court winning streak, winning by an average of 11.5 points per game. Over the last two seasons, NIU is 19-7 in DeKalb.
NIU (0-3) came back from down eight points twice in the second half at Southern Indiana on Nov. 16 to take a 60-58 lead with 2:06 to go. The Screaming Eagles scored the final eight points to win 66-60. Despite the loss, the Huskies had their best defensive effort of the early season. NIU posted season-bests in points allowed, field goal percentage allowed and three-point field goal percentage allowed.
Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) led the Huskies in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points at USI, adding a game-high five assists with no turnovers. She is second in the Mid-American Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 2.33 and third with 4.7 assists per game. Marable leads NIU in scoring with 13.3 points per game.
The Huskies lead the MAC with 30.3 three-point attempts per game.
Kortney Drake (Wilton, Iowa/Kirkland CC) and
Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) were a combined 6-for-11 from long range last time out at Southern Indiana. McCrea made four threes, one shy of her career high, for her 12 points off the bench. Drake was 2-for-5 from the three-point arc and scored a career-high 12 points.
Lindenwood (0-3) is coming off an 81-62 loss at Cincinnati last Wednesday. Freshman guard Ellie Brueggemann led the Lions with a season-high 21 points, making 5-of-9 three-point attempts. Brueggemann leads Lindenwood in scoring at 16 points per game. The Lions, in their second year of reclassification from Division II, were 2-24 last season and 1-17 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
NIU heads to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the November Clasico Nov. 24-25 where the Huskies will take on Radford this Friday and Indiana State on Saturday. Both games tip-off at 10 a.m. CT.
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