Women's Basketball | November 5

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team has a chance to start the season 2-0 for the first time in 10 years Friday night when it heads down to Peoria to face the Bradley Braves. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT.
 
Friday night's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and locally on 94-9 WDKB.
 
NIU (1-0) scored the final seven points of Monday night's home opener against Indiana State, winning 76-71. Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Binghamton) and Ashlynn Brooke (Logansport, Ind./Ball State) combined for those seven points with Brooke's three-point play with 0:28 left putting the Huskies up for good. The Huskies shot 50.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from the three-point line.
 
Middleton led all scorers with a career-high 22 points. She scored 15 points in the second half with 11 in the fourth quarter alone. Middleton was the high scorer in the Horizon League on Monday night. Freshman guard Laniah Davis (Michigan City, Ind./Marquette Catholic) scored 20 points off the bench in her collegiate debut. Davis is the first NIU rookie to score at least 20 points in her first game since Lindsay Secrest put up 26 against Illinois State in 2000. Middleton and Davis are the first NIU duo to each score at least 20 points in a season opener since 2009 when Ebony Ellis and Marke Freeman had 22 and 21 points respectively against Bradley.
 
Bradley (0-1) opened its 2026-27 season on Tuesday night at Wisconsin. The Braves rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half to tie the game at 65-65 with 0:52 left. Wisconsin made a three-pointer on its next possession to go up 68-65 and went on to win 71-65. Inia Jones led the Braves with 13 points off the bench. Elie McDermid had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley won 20 games a season ago and was 13-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
NIU is back on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 11 to take on DePaul. The matchup against the Blue Demons is set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
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