Women’s basketball heads into the final quarter of its regular season mired in its longest losing streak of the season.

The Huskies (8-13, 4-7 MAC) will attempt to avoid their first four-game losing streak this season when they take on the Buffalo Bulls (13-9, 6-5 MAC) at 11 a.m. Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Huskies close out the regular season with seven games against teams they have already played once. The Bulls will be the first of the seven teams the Huskies will play for the second time.

“For us, just because of where we’re at record-wise, this is our tournament,” said head coach Kathi Bennett. “I think that there’s more urgency, more importance, more preparation. We know we still can make a run, and it’s that belief, that sense of urgency that’s gonna turn around our season.”

The Bulls defeated the Huskies, 63-52, in their first meeting Jan. 23 at the Convocation Center. They dominated the second half, outscoring the Huskies 39-29, although NIU used an 11-4 run in the final 48 seconds to make the final score appear much closer.

“Their defense stymied us,” Bennett said. “We really struggled to score, move the ball around; we turned it over, so we’ll work a great deal on our zone offense getting ready for them.”

Since their initial meeting, the Huskies have managed only one win in five games, including a 0-2 mark on the road. They have averaged 53.8 points per game and have allowed 58 points per game during the five-game stretch.

On the other hand, the Bulls have gone 3-2 since their inital meeting with the Huskies, including a 2-0 mark at home. In their last five games, they have posted 68.2 points per game and have surrendered 68.6 points per game.

The Huskies will once again be tasked with trying to slow down sophomore guard Mackenzie Loesing, the Bulls’ offensive leader and go-to scorer. Loesing posted a game-high 15 points in 37 minutes in the first contest.

But, it will take a full team effort to slow down Buffalo’s offense. Junior forward Kristen Sharkey poured in 14 points the first time NIU and Buffalo met, and all seven Bulls players who played more than five minutes scored.

“The way we play defense, if one person breaks down [in] the last five seconds, it breaks us all down,” Bennett said. “It’s a commitment. It’s a hard way to play, but when you play it right, we can be one of the best teams in our league. We need that defensive effort [of] five people on the floor playing that 30-second shot clock all the way through.”