General | February 10

DeKalb, Ill. - This Week in Huskie Athletics Northern Illinois University will have 10 teams in action. NIU Men's basketball will play host to Buffalo on Tuesday before heading to Ball State on Saturday. NIU women's basketball will play just one game this weekend on Saturday when the Huskies travel to take on WMU. NIU baseball opens their season with a three-game series on the road against Nicholls. NIU softball will head to Lafayette, La. This weekend to face Central Arkansas, Louisiana, Sam Houston State and Ole Miss between Friday and Sunday. NIU wrestling will travel out west to take on Cal Poly on Friday. NIU gymnastics will compete in Cape Girardeau, Mo. in a tri-meet with SEMO and Centenary College on Friday.  NIU women's golf opens their spring season at the BGSU Women's Intercollegiate in Litchfield Park, Ariz. on Tuesday and Wednesday. NIU men's tennis home for a Sunday double header against Marquette and Wisconsin-Whitewater. NIU women's tennis is home for a Saturday double header against Valparaiso and Lewis. NIU track and field will have two competitions on Friday as they will compete at the GVSU Big Meet in Michigan and the Chicagoland Indoor Championship in Naperville.
 
Men's Basketball
Tuesday, February 11 vs. Buffalo, 6 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, February 15 at Ball State, 1 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Audio | Live Stats 
The NIU men's basketball team welcomes Buffalo to DeKalb on Tuesday night, Feb. 11. NIU swept the season series against the Bulls last season, earning a 72-68 victory in DeKalb (Feb. 13, 2024) and a 78-68 win in Buffalo (March 8, 2024). Quentin Jones is second in the MAC in scoring at 16.3 points per contest while James Dent Jr. is the only player in the MAC to rank in the top-20 in the conference in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Following Tuesday's game, the Huskies will head back on the road as they visit Ball State on Saturday (Feb. 15). NIU topped the Cardinals, 76-66, in the first meeting of the season in DeKalb (Jan. 25).
 
Women's basketball
Saturday, Feb. 15 at Western Michigan, 11 a.m. -   Watch on ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats
The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team will head to Kalamazoo, Mich. and take on Western Michigan in MAC play on Saturday. The Huskies have won their last two games and will look to win their second consecutive MAC game this weekend.
NIU took down Kent State on Wednesday, Feb. 5 73-69 and then went on the road in the MAC-SBC Challenge and defeated Appalachian State 75-62. Alecia Doyle was dominant for the Huskies last week scoring 23 against Kent State and then 22 against Appalachian State. NIU shot 24 of 45 from three-point range across both games.
WMU is 6-5 in MAC play. The Broncos narrowly defeated NIU 61-57 on Jan. 11 in DeKalb.
 
Baseball
Friday, Feb. 14 at Nicholls, 6:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 15 at Nicholls, 2 p.m. - Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 16 at Nicholls, 11 a.m. - Live Stats
 
The NIU Baseball team opens its 2025 season with a three-game series at Nicholls beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Huskies won 21 games last season in head coach Ryan Copeland's first season in the NIU dugout, an 11-win improvement from the year before. NIU also had two power-five wins for the first time since 2009. NIU had three All-MAC selections in 2024 including redshirt-junior pitcher Adam Brouwer who led the Huskies with seven wins on the mound. Brouwer was also second on the team with 55 strikeouts and 73-and-one-third innings pitched. NIU's top returning hitter is sophomore outfielder Charlie Parcell, who hit .277 last year with 12 doubles, 25 RBI and six stolen bases. A full season preview will be available on NIUHuskies.com later this week.
 
Softball
Friday, Feb. 14 vs Central Arkansas (Lafayette, LA), 11:30 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 14 at Louisiana, 4:30 p.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. vs Sam Houston 15, 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 15 vs Ole Miss, 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 16 vs Central Arkansas, 11:30 a.m.
The Northern Illinois University Huskies softball program is off to a 2-3 start this season, claiming opening weekend victories over Colgate and Montana at the GCU Kickoff Tournament.
 The Huskies saw Jenna Turner and Madison Mathews each record seven hits over the weekend and scored four runs each. Mathews and Danielle Stewart grabbed the first home runs of the season. Stewart leads the Huskies with 6 RBIs while Turner grabbed three stolen bases.
 
Wrestling
Friday, Feb. at Cal Poly, 7:30 p.m. -  Watch  TrackWrestling
The Northern Illinois University wrestling program (5-3, 5-1 MAC) takes their three-dual winning streak on the road and take a break from MAC action this week. The Huskies will take on the Mustangs of Cal Poly at 7:30 p.m. CT on February 14.
 The Huskies were last in action on February 7 as they posted a 28-8 victory over Buffalo inside the NIU Convocation Center in the final home dual of the season. The Huskies won eight of the ten bouts, including seven consecutive as they moved to 5-1 in MAC competition. Blake West and Markel Baker remain undefeated in MAC duals.
 
Gymnastics
Friday, Feb. 19 at Semo Tri-Meet
The Northern Illinois university gymnastics team will be back on the road this week and head to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to take on SEMO and Centenary in a tri-meet. Last time out the Huskies scored a season high of 193.450 against Kent State in the Huskies Beauty & The Beast Meet on Friday, Feb. 7.
In that meet Kiera O'Shea clinched her fourth straight event win on vault. O'Shea scored another 9.825 to clinch the event win. Drake White added a 9.800 on floor in the dual as well.
 
Women's Golf
Tuesday, Feb. 11 – Wednesday, Feb. 12 at BGSU Women's Intercollegiate - Live Scoring
After a mid-year break, the Northern Illinois University women's golf team returns to action at the BGSU Women's Intercollegiate tournament in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The Huskies will compete through 54 holes, beginning at 9 a.m. CT on February 11.
 Alexa Ouellet led the Huskies in the fall, averaging 75.9 strokes per round. Emma Thorman averaged 76.4 strokes per round while Dakota Tallent and Caroline Kent had 77 strokes per round.
 
Men's Tennis
Sunday, Feb. 16 vs Marquette, 10 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 16 vs University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 4 p.m.
The NIU men's tennis team will return home to the Nelson Tennis Center this weekend after a road trip to take on Notre Dame and William & Mary last weekend. NIU will host Marquette at 10 a.m. and Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Last weekend the Huskies dropped both matches. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and Federico Scotuzzi both earned singles win on Sunday against William & Mary. The duo of Saul Berdullas and Sam Klein also earned a win at No. 2 doubles against William & Mary.
 
Women's Tennis
Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. Valparaiso (Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House), 10 am
Saturday, Feb. 15 vs. Lewis (Nelson Tennis Center at Chick Evans Field House), 3 pm
The NIU women's tennis team takes on Valparaiso and Lewis on Saturday, February 15  at the Nelson Tennis Center after improving to 6-2 on the season with a 7-0 win over Western Illinois last weekend.
The Huskies have shut out their opponent in all six of their wins so far this year. Senior grad transfer Maria Dzemeshkevich led NIU versus the Leathernecks, first teaming with partner Nataly Ninova to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win and then recording her fourth win of the spring with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles.
On the season, freshmen Lucia Yecora is undefeated in singles at 5-0, while fellow rookie Irmak Budak is 5-1 on the year and junior Nataly Ninova has seven wins in eight matches.  In doubles, the Huskies' No. 3 team of Jenna Horne and Reagan Welch is a perfect 6-0 on the year.
 
Track and Field
Friday-Saturday, February 14: at GVSU Big Meet – Friday (Allendale, Mich.)
Friday-Saturday, February 14: at Chicagoland Indoor Championship (Naperville, Ill.)
 The Huskies track and field team will send student-athletes to a pair of different meets this weekend as NIU competes at the GVSU Big Meet as well as the Chicagoland Indoor Championship. This past weekend, Jasmijn Raes won her third high jump title of the indoor season at the Iowa State Classic, Raes currently holds the best high jump mark in the conference this year at 1.76 meters (5-09.25).
 Competition at the GVSU Big Meet will begin at 7:30 a.m. CT on Friday, with the first women's event, the 5,000 meters, scheduled for 8:47 a.m. CT. The Chicagoland Indoor Championship at the Al B. Carius Track at North Central College is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday. 
 
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