Women's Basketball | March 16

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball will play its first national postseason game in six years Friday night when it takes on the Georgia Southern Eagles at 6:30 p.m. CT in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational at the Clive M. Beck Center in Lexington, Ky.

The game will be shown on watchwbi.com and will also be broadcast locally on WDKB 94-9 FM, the NIU Huskies app and the Varsity Network app.

This weekend marks the Huskies' eighth appearance in a national postseason tournament. NIU last made the postseason in 2017 when it earned a postseason WNIT berth and a game against South Dakota State after its run to the MAC Tournament championship game. The Huskies have been to the NCAA Tournament five times, including four straight appearances from 1992-95.

NIU (16-14) is 6-4 in its last 10 games after a 75-68 loss to Kent State in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals on March 8. Senior forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) led all players with 26 points and 12 rebounds, her 22nd double-double on the season. She also moved into third on the NIU career rebounding chart with 1,015, passing Jennifer Youngblood who had 1,010 from 2000-04 and Angela Lockett's 1,014 from 1990-95. Davis is 14 rebounds away from passing Carol Owens' 1,028 rebounds for second all-time at NIU. She leads NIU with 16.3 points per game and is shooting 55.1 percent from the field.

Junior guard Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) had her second 20-point effort of the year with 20 points against the Golden Flashes in Cleveland. She scored 15 of her points in the second half and tied a career-high with three made three-pointers. Senior guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) enters Friday's game nine points away from 1,500 in her NIU career. She is second in the MAC in three-point percentage at 40.3 percent and second on the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game.

The Huskies lead the MAC in rebounding at 38.50 rebounds per game. Since Feb. 1, NIU has a +7.2 rebounding margin. Davis is fourth in the nation individually in rebounding with 12.6 per game. The Eagles fourth in the nation in rebounding, averaging 46.71 per game.

Georgia Southern (20-8) enters this weekend's WBI with its first 20-win season in 20 years. The Eagles finished 12-6 in the Sun Belt Conference and tied for fourth in the league. Georgia Southern was the sixth-seed in the Sun Belt Tournament and was upset by Arkansas State 81-76 in overtime on March 1. Junior forward Terren Ward leads Georgia Southern with 18.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, earning All-Sun Belt First Team honors. The Eagles are ninth in the nation in scoring at 80.4 points per game.

NIU will take on either California Baptist or North Dakota on Saturday, March 17 at either 4 p.m. CT or 6:30 p.m. Log on to NIUHuskies.com or follow NIU Athletics on Twitter (@NIUAthletics) for more information.

—NIU—