After a week off, the NIU women’s basketball team will resume its quest for supremacy in the MAC West.

The Huskies return to divisional play Saturday afternoon when they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. to take on the Eagles of Eastern Michigan University. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.

NIU (13-11 overall, 8-3 MAC) saw no competitive action this week. It used the time off to rest up. Huskie head coach Carol Owens said her team is ready to play high-energy basketball down the stretch because of the rest.

“I thought that we needed [the time off] moreso than the first bye week,” Owens said. “Now we enter into the West, and we’ve got to have our energy; we’ve got to have our legs for that.”

Matching the energy in Ypsilanti will be important for NIU, as EMU (6-17, 2-9) has won five of its six victories at home this season. The Huskies are 3-2 on the road during conference play this season.

The Eagles present a unique challenge to the Huskies’ recipe of defense and rebounding as EMU averages 14 offense boards per game. EMU is also allowing MAC opponents to score only 58 points a contest.

A guard-heavy EMU offense will present many opportunities for long offensive rebounds. The Huskies will have to be on their toes to prevent second-chance points.

“We can’t give them that many opportunities if we’re going to be successful,” Owens said. “We’ve got to keep them off the boards. They’re a good rebounding team. They shoot a lot of threes and get a lot of long rebounds, so we’ve got to be ready for that.”

Like many of the Huskies’ games this season, their offense will look to get going early against a stout EMU defense. Perhaps the most important piece of NIU’s offensive puzzle is its depth off the bench. NIU has routinely scored over 20 bench points a game this season.

The Huskies bench is coming off of a 28-point performance against Buffalo last weekend.

Redshirt senior Aileen Rossouw scored 13 points, and guard Marke Freeman poured in 15 of her own off the bench. The redshirt sophomore also dished eight dimes and pulled down six boards.

Eight of Rossouw’s points came from the free-throw line where NIU has been consistent all season long. The Huskies look to continue to take advantage from the charity stripe against EMU by utilizing versatility on offense and getting everyone involved.

“We’re continuing to be aggressive, and we’re getting to the free-throw line,” Owens said. “When we’re not shooting well from the outside, we’ve got to get points in the paint. We’ve got guards like Jessie [Wilcox], Shari’ [Welton] and Marke [Freeman] that can get to the basket and not only create for themselves, but for others.”