CMU Women, Winners Of 13 Straight, Go To NIU

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan women's basketball team will travel to Dekalb, Ill. for a rematch with Northern Illinois on Saturday (2 p.m.) in a Mid-American Conference game at the NIU Convocation Center.

The Chippewas, 20-4, 13-0 MAC, are riding a 13-game win streak and have emerged as winners in 20 of their last 21 games. They hold a three-game lead over Ohio and Ball State in the overall MAC standings, and lead the Cardinals by three games in the MAC West.

The Huskies are 8-16, 4-9 and have lost their last two games. They sit at the bottom of the MAC West standings.

Clinched
The Chippewas secured a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament when they defeated Kent State, 71-58, in a home game on Wednesday. Molly Davis had 26 points – two shy of her career high -- and seven assists while Micaela Kelly posted a double-double as the Chippewas locked up a trip to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, site of the conference tournament.

CMU hasn't lost a game since the start of the new decade. Its last loss came on Dec. 30 when the Chippewas fell, 64-58, in a nonconference game at UCF.

Rankings
The Chippewas are ranked sixth in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. They have an RPI of 17, which is tops among MAC teams and third among all mid-majors in the nation.
Northern Illinois has an RPI of 176.

Leaders
Kelly leads the conference in scoring at 22.0 points per game and is tied for the league-lead in assists per game at 4.7. She is knocking down 2.5 3-pointers per contest, good for fifth in the league. She is the fourth-leading scorer in the nation.

Davis jumped ahead a few spots on the conference scoring leaders list after her 26-point outburst against Kent State. She ranks 12^th in the conference at 14.5 points per game. She's dishing out 4.4 assists per game, good for sixth in the conference.

Maddy Watters and Davis are fourth and fifth in the conference, respectively, in 3-point field goal percentage. Watters is knocking down 42.5 percent of her long-range tries while Davis is at 41.4 percent.

CMU's Kyra Bussell is tied for 13^th among scoring leaders with 14.0 points per game. She's pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game, good for 10^th in the conference.

Scouting
The Chippewas defeated the Huskies earlier this season, 66-60, in a competitive battle at McGuirk Arena.

Courtney Woods, the Huskies' leading scorer, had 18 points on 7-of-21 shooting in that game. Woods is third among conference scoring leaders at 18.5 points per game. She leads the conference in free throw percentage at 87.1 percent.

The Huskies rank near the bottom of the conference in total offense and defense. They're 10^th in the conference offensively at 67.3 points per game and 11^th defensively, giving up an average of 73.1 points per contest.

Next
The Chippewas are scheduled to play two games next week, both conference rematches. They will play host to Western Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 26 (7 p.m.) before traveling to Muncie, Ind. on Saturday, Feb. 29 (1 p.m.) to take on Ball State.

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Players Mentioned

Kyra Bussell

Molly Davis

Micaela Kelly

Maddy Watters