The NIU women’s basketball team will once again be searching for its first win of the season.

The Huskies (0-1) will travel to Macomb to take on Western Illinois (1-0) at 7 p.m. tonight, marking their second straight match-up against a Summit League opponent.

NIU leads the all-time series against Western 23-15, and won the last contest in a thriller at the Convocation Center, 60-59 on Nov. 15, 2007.

“We’re not sure what Western is going to do to us right now,” said NIU head coach Carol Owens. “They’ve got to be concerned about Marke [Freeman] and Ebony [Ellis], we may continue to see some zone and I told our team to expect to see a lot more zone. Eventually, we’re going to start shooting a lot better than we’ve been shooting.”

NIU has yet to shoot above 40 percent this year, as they posted a .359 mark in their lone exhibition game versus St. Xavier, and shot .386 in a season-opening loss against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Turnovers have been the bigger problem for the Huskies early this season.

Owens, however, is confident that turnovers will start to limit themselves as the season goes on.

“I know we’ll get better,” Owens said. “Obviously, taking care of the ball will be an emphasis, but that’s going to come with time.”

Turnovers have been the Achilles Heel for the Huskies so far this year, as they totaled 30 in their exhibition game versus St. Xavier, compared to just eight assists.

In the opener, NIU had 26 turnovers to 12 assists.

“We’ve got to continue to get better,” Owens said. “We need to work to establish that flow, we haven’t gotten that flow yet. Overall, it’s still early, we’ve still got a lot to work on.”

The Westerwinds started off the 2008-09 campaign with a win against Robert Morris, 70-53.

Leading them in that match-up was senior forward Nicole Myers, who recorded a double-double

with 16 points and 13 rebounds. WIU had four players score in double figures overall.

Squaring off against Myers down low for the Huskies will be sophomore center Ebony Ellis, who also recorded a double-double in her season opener, recording 15 points and 14 rebounds against IUPUI.

NIU’s guards will have a big task defensively also, according to Owens.

“They’re a high-scoring team,” Owens said. “They can shoot the three ball very well, so we’ll have to defend the perimeter. Their guards are always looking to score.”