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ATHENS, OH.– The Ohio Women's Basketball team (4-18, 2-9 MAC) will play at home this Saturday (2/11) against Northern Illinois (12-10, 4-7 MAC). This will be the Bobcats second time playing the Huskies in 2023, but their first time meeting at the Convocation Center this season. The conference tipoff the is set for 1 pm in Athens and will be available to stream on ESPN3.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Ohio women's basketball will face off against the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday, adding another matchup to their all-time series. The history currently stands at Ohio 23, NIU 22. The Bobcats are only ahead by one game and are looking to increase the lead, while the Huskies are determined to even the series out at 23 apiece.
LAST TIME OUT
The Bobcats and Huskies have recently seen one another in the 2023 season, making this their second matchup of the year. On January 14th, Ohio traveled to Northern Illinois where the two teams competed in DeKalb. The Bobcats fell to the Huskies with a final score of 66-78. The away contest proved to be a difficult matchup for the Bobcats, testing their defense from the start and being outscored in 3 of the 4 quarters. Overall, the Ohio Bobcats were led in scoring by Yaya Felder, totaling 23 points, followed by Caitlyn Kroll and Jasmine Hale with 13 points each. As a team, the January contest ended with Ohio going 26-of-54 from the field, 8-of-23 from the three, and 6-of-8 from the three.
MAC PLAY
Both teams are closing out MAC play for the 2022-23 season with 11 games under their belts. Ohio has fallen to: Akron, Kent State, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Ball State, Toledo, and Bowling Green, but have defeated their rival Miami in overtime, and came out victorious against the Eastern Michigan Eagles 65-55. The Huskies currently hold a 4-7 conference record, losing to Central Michigan (62-79), Western Michigan (70-79), Miami (69-74), Eastern Michigan (61-66), Kent (61-82), BGSU (50-66), and Ball State (68-76). Aside from defeating the Bobcats (78-66), NIU has come out on top against Toledo (67-66), Buffalo (72-62), and Akron (88-63).
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
NIU is currently on a two game winning streak, most recently defeating Akron 88-63. The Huskies were led by senior guard Chelby Koker who secured her season-high of 27 points. Koker also led in assists, recoring 5. Behind Koker was A'Jah Davis with 19 points and 4 assists. The third and final Husky who reached double figures in scoring was Janae Poisson with 14 points. Overall, NIU only collected 1 block last game, proving to be a more offensive team.
LEADING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
When looking at the 2022-23 season for the Huskies, there have been several leaders for the team. Currently at the top of the scoring category is Chelby Koker with 353 points, averaging 16 a game. Koker holds a 41% from the field, 39% from the three point line, and an 83% in free throws.Close behind is A'Jah Davis with an accumulated 322, which averages to 15.3 a game. Davis holds an impressive average of 55% from the field and also leads the team by a landslide in rebounds, totaling 254. 154 of those rebounds are defensive and the other 100 are offensive, proving her strength in the paint on both sides. Another leader for NIU is Jayden Marable with 36 steals, 125 points, and 71 assists.
PROJECTED STARTERS FOR THE HUSKIES
In NIU's most recent matchups, the following Huskies have hit the court first; Sidney McCrea (#2), Jayden Marable (#3), Chelby Koker (#10), A'Jah Davis (#25), and Laura Nickel (#32).
OHIO'S MOST RECENT STATS
The Bobcats ended their last game against BGSU going 12-of-52 (23.1%) from the field, 5-of-24 (20.8%) from the three, 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the line, snagged 34 rebounds, 9 steals, and collected 10 assists.
LAST TO LEAD
In the Bobcats last contest, Jaya McClure led the team on offense with 14 points, going 5-of-11 from the field, 1-of-5 from the three, and 3-of-4 from the line. This marked Jaya's highest scoring game as a Bobcat. Yaya Felder then followed on offense with 8 points. On the defensive side, Yaya led in rebounds as well, collecting 8; 2 offensive and 6 defensive. Caitlyn Kroll and Aja Austin were behind Yaya with 4 rebounds apiece. In terms of steals Kailah Johnson grabbed 2 for Ohio.
NOW LEADING OHIO
Throughout the 2022-23 season, Ohio has been led by Yaya Felder in scoring. Felder has hit double figures in almost every game this season and currently totals 450 points for the Bobcats, averaging 20.5 a game. Caitlyn Kroll follows with 187 points, and behind her is Abby Garnett with 154. Caitlyn Kroll also leads Ohio in rebounds, totaling 133; 114 defensive rebounds and 19 offensive. In terms of steals Yaya holds 48 for the season and Kroll is behind with 40. Leading in blocks is Ella Pope with an impressive 14, followed closely by Garnett with 13.
MATCHUP NOTES
- Ohio's Yaya Felder is 2nd in the MAC for scoring and is only 1.3 away from the number 1 average
- The Huskies already defeated Ohio once before this season, making Ohio hungry for redemptiom
- Ohio is looking for their first at home MAC win
- NIU is on a current two game winning streak
- This is the 8th season head coaches Bob Boldon and Lisa Carlsen are meeting
Up Next:
After a Bobcat home stretch, the Women's Basketball team will get back on the road Wednesday (Feb. 15), to play Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. Ohio is looking to redeem themselves after a 58-78 loss to the Cardinals on (1/28/23). The rematch will be at 6:30pm and can be streamed on ESPN3/+.
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