Thursday’s NIU women’s basketball game with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is “Big.”

How big is it?

Extremely. Very. Extraordinarily. There can’t be enough adjectives to describe this opener to “Big Thursday.”

It’s the battle of the North Star Conference undefeated and the night Lisa Foss needs eight points to become NIU’s all-time leading scorer.

The similarities between these two clubs are amazing. NIU steps in at 6-0 and UW-GB holds the same mark. Both teams are 13-4 overall. Both teams beat DePaul. And both teams are hungrier than ever.

“We’re very aware of their talent and system,” NIU coach Jane Albright said. “We’ve got a great degree of respect for them. Carol Hammerle is an excellent coach and has them playing at a peak. I expect it to be a great matchup.”

Albright favors the depth system. The seventh-year coach never hesitates on a substitution. Hammerle is the same way. In her 18th season as head coach, Hammerle cleans the bench frequently.

“Nobody on their team averages more than 29 minutes,” NIU’s assistant coach Kami Ethridge said. “They are very much 10-players deep. I think they are more inclined to substitute more often (than NIU) though.”

But, in a tight battle, it’s going to be the differences that determine the outcome.

One statistic that jumps out is UW-GB’s scoring defense. The Phoenix lead the NSC in that category, yielding only 60.5 points per game. Hammerle has perfected UW-GB men’s coach Dick Bennet’s defensive philosophy of over-playing.

“The first thing you have to talk about is their defense,” Ethridge said after scouting UW-GB’s home win over DePaul (74-59). “They are fundamentally sound and don’t give up easy baskets.”

NIU will counter the slow-down with its’ up-tempo style. The Huskies have averaged 93.3 points per game in their last four outings, including the 91-82 road victory over DePaul.

“Our strength is running the ball,” Ethridge said. “It’ll be to our advantage if we can get them in a running game.”

Size-wise, both teams match-up in inches. So rebounding will be the ultimate factor in determining what the tempo will be.

“It’ll be a really emotional game,” NIU’s 6-2 forward Dianna Wingis said. “We want to run and they want a half-court game, so rebounding and tempo will be the keys. We worked on boxing out yesterday. As long as we keep doing what we’ve been doing (on the boards), we’ll be fine.”