Women’s basketball’s defense faces its toughest task of the season when the Valparaiso Crusaders come to DeKalb today.

The Huskies (1-1) host the Crusaders (1-1) 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Through two games the Crusaders are averaging 70 points per game while the Huskies are allowing 56 points per game.

“This will be our toughest test on the defensive end, and we really got to get back and get our [defense] set and take away the high-low look, take away their high post shots, and they do a great job on ball screen action, so our defense has got to be on top of its game,” said head coach Kathi Bennett.

The Huskies and Crusaders each enter the mid-week matchup contest coming off of their first loss of the season. NIU dropped a 61-47 decision to the Illinois-Chicago Flames Monday, and Valparaiso was blown out, 81-49, by the Indiana Hoosiers, of the Big Ten, Tuesday.

Bennett said the Crusaders remind her of the Lewis Flyers because they run a sideline fast break and have five players on the court who can shoot the ball well at any time. Junior guard Abby Dean and freshman forward Dani Franklin lead the Crusaders with 13.5 and 12.5 points per game, respectively.

“It’ll definitely be physical,” said redshirt junior Jenna Thorp. “… I think it’ll be a lot of one-on-one containment and then being in the driving lanes, and then as well as just trying to double down on their bigs.”

The Huskies are counting on their defense to keep them in the game, but they will need their offense to respond from a pair of poor shooting games to open the season. They shot 31.7 percent from the field against the Illinois State Redbirds Friday and 27.8 percent against the Flames.

“I think we got good looks; we just got to put some [shots] down,” Bennett said. “We’ve had our share of missed layups, and it’s just a confidence thing. So, you hit some [shots] early, [and] I think that confidence will grow. But, the exciting thing is we are getting good looks, and so we just got to keep hammering away.”

The Huskies have scored 55 and 47 points in their first two games with freshmen pacing the offense. Freshman Kelly Smith scored a game-high 17 points against the Redbirds, and freshman Renee Sladek posted a team-high 14 points against the Flames.

It was the first time in the history of NCAA women’s basketball, which dates back to 1982-83, the Huskies were led in scoring by a freshman in each of their first two games.

“I think my teammates got very good looks, and they ran a lot of zone, so it was easy to attack” the basket, Sladek said. “If we would dive in the post I was open a lot, so my teammates looked to get it to me a lot.”

Against the Crusaders, Sladek’s looking for a more balanced game from herself and the team.

The Crusaders “execute on offense really well,” Sladek said. “They push the ball up the floor a lot, so we got to get back in transition [defense], and if we can slow their game down and get some good offensive looks we should be good to go.”