Women's basketball looks to sweep Northern Illinois
Riding a second six-game winning streak of Mid-American Conference play, the Central Michigan women’s basketball team will host Northern Illinois at 7:04 p.m. Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
CMU (20-6, 12-2 MAC) comes in leading the MAC West Division with the Huskies (18-7, 11-3) in second place with three games left in the regular season.
Head coach Sue Guevara said after CMU’s most recent win against Toledo that the next few games are not easy tasks, including the matchup with the Huskies.
“We’ve got a tough road ahead of us with Northern (Illinois) coming in and then Ball State,” she said. “This month of February will have us battle tested for March. We will go into everyone of these games with the next one being the most important – with a championship mentality.”
Here is what to look for in Wednesday's matchup:
The last meeting
- The Chippewas defeated the Huskies, 109-94, Feb. 8 in DeKalb. It was the 11th win for the Chippewas in 12 meetings against NIU.
- Sophomore guard Presley Hudson and sophomore forward Reyna Frost led CMU in scoring with 24 points apiece – leading the team to their highest point total this season at 109.
- Ally Lehman had 31 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Huskies.
Scouting NIU
- Northern Illinois averages a MAC-best 87.2 points per game, but allows a conference-high 81.3 points.
- NIU averages 43.3 rebounds per game while CMU averages 40. The Huskies average 14 turnovers per game while CMU is at 15.
- NIU has five players that average double figures in scoring: Lehman leads the bunch with 18 points per game, then its Courtney Woods (16.9), Cassidy Glenn (15.9), Mikayla Voigt (11.5), and Kelly Smith (10.3).
- NIU leads the conference in free-throw percentage at 78.6 percent, the Chippewas are right behind them in second at 76.4 percent.
CMU highlights
- The Chippewas rank second in the MAC in scoring at 77.5 per game and are ninth in defense, allowing 69.3 per game.
- Wednesday's contest features the third-and-fourth ranked individual scorers in the MAC. NIU’s Lehman averages 18.0 points per game, while Hudson averages 17.6 per game.
- CMU sophomore forward Reyna Frost is atop the MAC in rebounds per game (11.2). Lehman ranks second at 10.2.
- CMU is second in the MAC in 3-point shooting percentage, coming in at 35.1 percent. Right ahead of them is the Huskies at 36.8 percent.
