DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team opens a stretch of three consecutive road games on Saturday at Appalachian State in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. CT.
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live audio on NIUHuskies.com.
 
NIU (10-12) shot a season-high 61.1 percent from the three-point line Wednesday night in a 73-69 win over Kent State at the NIU Convocation Center. It was the first time since Jan. 22, 2022 that the Huskies shot over 60 percent from long range. The Huskies made 11 threes against the Golden Flashes in snapping a six-game losing streak to Kent State, the sixth game this season NIU made double-digit threes. NIU is 14^th in the country in three-point percentage at 36.8 percent.
 
Junior guard Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) led all scorers Wednesday night with a season-high 23 points. Doyle was 8-for-13 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line. It was her third 20-point game of the season and first in double figures since Jan. 18 at Bowling Green. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) had 21 points and a game-high four steals, going 7-for-11 from the field with three three-pointers. It was the first time NIU had two players score 20 points in the same game since the 2023 Mid-American Conference Championship quarterfinals.
 
Appalachian State (13-9) has won five of its last six games after winning Wednesday night at ULM 73-71. The Mountaineers were 14-for-24 from the three-point line and outscored the Warhawks 22-15 in the fourth quarter. Elena Pericic led four App State players in double figure scoring with 22 points and also had a team-high six rebounds. Senior guard Eleyana Tafisi had 14 points and seven assists. She leads the Sun Belt with 5.0 assists per game. The Mountaineers lead the Sun Belt with 16.5 assists per game, as well as field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
 
Saturday's game is the first meeting all-time between NIU and Appalachian State. The Huskies won their first game in this season's MAC-SBC Challenge 57-55 over Louisiana on Nov. 4.
 
The Huskies are back on the road on Saturday, Feb. 15 with a matchup at Western Michigan at 11 a.m. CT.
 
--NIU--