With the MAC open for the taking, the NIU women’s basketball team looks to move up in the rankings.

The Huskies (8-13 overall, 4-4 MAC) travel to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons (16-6, 5-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday. NIU has had a week to recuperate from a tough loss at Akron on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, we gave up too many open shots against Akron and our defense wasn’t where we wanted it to be,” forward Whitney Lowe said. “We had the bye-week and we had time to work on the things we need to work on to improve.”

BGSU is ranked second in the MAC in scoring offense with 70.9 points a game. The Falcons are led by Lauren Prochaska. The freshman guard is averaging 14.6 points a game.

“I feel like Bowling Green is a high-powered scoring team and we’ve got to get some stops,” NIU head coach Carol Owens said. “I think we’ve got to set the tone at the beginning of the game and get off on a good note as far as our intensity.”

NIU ranks last in the MAC with 60.8 points a game. The Huskies are 7-0, however, when going into the locker room with a halftime lead.

“We just talked about being in control of our own destiny,” Owens said. “The MAC is wide open and anybody can win it. That’s a positive thing for us, but we want to be in a position where we’re in control of what we do.”

The Huskies will be without guard Tara Michels this weekend for personal reasons.