Chick Evans Field House again will be the site of the sixth annual women’s basketball Fastbreak Festival to be held on December 3-4. Participating in the fest will be Temple, Butler, North Carolina St., and NIU.

The coach of the N.C. State Wolfpack returned from Seoul this past summer with gold. She was the coach of the U.S. women’s basketball team that defeated Yugoslavia for the gold medal.

The coach of the U.S. women’s Olympic team in 1984, Pat Summitt, will be the featured speaker at a clinic for high school basketball players later in the year.

After seven football games, the leading Huskie rusher is Adam Dach. At the same juncture last season, Dach had carried the ball one time for five yards. This year he has carried the ball 119 times for 535 yards (4.5 yards/carry).

In contrast, quarterback Marshall Taylor led the team last year through seven games with 517 yards on 101 carries (5.1 avg). After seven contests this season, he has 191 yards on 87 carries (2.2 avg.)

Halfback Rodney Taylor, who last year averaged 3.9 yards per carry through seven games, is averaging 5.4 ypc this season. His number of carries has risen from 58 last year to 69 this year. This season he has amassed 374 yards compared to just 228 last season. Also, his touchdowns have increased from two to four through seven games.

NIU (4-3) knows what it’s going up against in SIU (4-2) this Saturday in Carbondale. NIU Coach Jerry Pettibone sees the game as, “…the wishbone of the North vs. the wishbone of the South…SIU uses the triple option the same way we do.”

SIU coach Rick Rhoades, in his first year at the school, has installed the wishbone offense with some success. He was named NCAA Div. II Coach of the Year last season after a 12-1-1 record at Troy State.

This is Pettibone’s first meeting with SIU as head coach of the Huskies.

The NIU field hockey squad saw its record drop to 10-3-1 Tuesday evening with a 2-0 loss to the Wildcats of Northwestern. Entering the game, the Huskies had been ranked 20th in the latest coaches poll. NU was ranked No. 3 prior to the game and, with the win, increased their record to 12-1-1.

The Wildcats outshot the Huskies 6-5 and led NIU in penalty corners 7-4. NIU goalie Colleen Preston made eight saves to only five by NU goalie Kim Metcalf.

The Huskies will test their endurance this weekend, with matches against SW Missouri St. on Friday, St. Louis on Saturday and Miami, (Ohio), on Sunday.

The Huskies debuted at 17th in the poll during the first week. Last week they fell to 19th, and slipped a notch this week to 20th. The last time NIU had a nationally ranked field hockey squad was in 1983, when the team debuted at 18th and moved to 17th before falling out of the poll.