Women's Basketball | February 9

DeKALB, IL – After an exciting, last-second win over Texas State on Saturday, the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team is back in action Tuesday night to take on the UMass Minutewomen at the NIU Convocation Center. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT.
 
Tickets are on sale at NIUHuskies.com/tickets and by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225). The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the radio call on 94-9 WDKB and the NIU Huskies app.
 
NIU (5-18, 2-9 MAC) scored the final five points on Saturday to earn a 71-69 win over Texas State in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) tied the game 69-69 with a three-pointer with 1:16 to play, her sixth of the game. Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) put the Huskies ahead for good with her layup with 0.6 seconds remaining. It was NIU's first final-second game-winner since Nov. 22, 2022 when Emily Meinert hit a game-winning layup to beat Detroit Mercy 65-63.
 
Wingate and Sorensen both scored 21 points on Saturday to lead the Huskies to victory. Sorensen's sixth three-pointers were a season-high, and her 21 points were one shy of tying her season-high of 22 set against Western Michigan on Jan. 21. Wingate had a game-high six rebounds and was 8-for-14 from the field. The junior forward averaged 16.5 points per game last week for NIU, shooting 50 percent from the field.
 
Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) had a career-high seven assists on Saturday, including on the game-winning basket. Her previous career-high of six was set four times this year, most recently against Central Michigan on Jan. 31. She is third in the Mid-American Conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.65. Serracanta is averaging over 4.0 assists per game over the last five games.
 
Tuesday's game is the first meeting all-time between NIU and UMass. The Minutewomen are 16-5 on the year and 8-2 in the MAC. UMass had won three straight games against Bowling Green, Ohio and Eastern Michigan before a 71-57 loss to James Madison on Sunday. Sophomore guard Yahmani McKayle leads UMass with 16.4 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game, which put her in the top-five in the MAC in both statistical categories. The Minutewomen are second in the MAC in scoring defense at 61.6 points per game allowed and have committed the fewest turnovers in the league.
 
The Huskies wrap up their current three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 14 against Akron. Tip-off at the Convocation Center is at 1 p.m.
 
--NIU--