Women's Basketball | January 10

DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team begins a stretch of four out of six games at home on Saturday with a matchup against the Western Michigan Broncos. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Tickets are on sale now at NIUHuskies.com and by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). Saturday's game is a $5 Kids Combo day at the Convocation Center. The Kids Combo includes a hot dog, a bag of chips and a small soft drink or water for five dollars for kids ages 13 and under.
 
The game will be telecast on ESPN+ with live audio available at NIUHuskies.com.
 
NIU (7-7, 1-2 MAC) nearly erased a nine-point deficit in the last 2:49 of Wednesday night's game at Akron, but a last-second shot to tie rolled out of the basket in a 73-71 loss. The Huskies shot 48.3 percent against the Zips after shooting 35 percent from the field against Ohio on Jan. 4. NIU is third in the Mid-American Conference in field goal percentage at 43.6 percent.
 
Redshirt-Sophomore forward Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) led the Huskies with 16 points on Wednesday night, two points shy of tying her season-high of 18. Since being re-inserted into the starting lineup on Dec. 15, Blumenfeld is averaging 10.5 points per game and shooting 50 percent from the field. She enters play on Saturday sixth in the MAC in field goal percentage at 48.5 percent.
 
NIU got a lift off the bench Wednesday night from senior guard Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall). Nickel was 6-for-8 from the field for a season-high 13 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. It was Nickel's second double-figure scoring effort of the season after having 12 points against St. Thomas on Nov. 10. The Huskies had 20 points from the bench at Akron with Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) adding seven points. It was the sixth time this season NIU had at least 20 bench points in a game.
 
Western Michigan (5-8, 2-1) comes to DeKalb after a 66-49 win over Ohio at University Arena Wednesday night. The Broncos outscored the Bobcats 39-17 in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit. Hannah Spitzley led Western Michigan with 18 points as Marina Asensio added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Asensio leads the Broncos in scoring at 13.9 points per game. The Broncos are fourth in the MAC at scoring defense, allowing 63.9 points per game.
 
NIU hosts Miami on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center for Faculty and Staff Appreciation and PRIDE Night.
 
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