DeKALB | After a brief stop back home, the NIU women’s basketball team will be back on the road as they take on MAC foe Kent State at 6 p.m. tonight.

Despite the cold weather outside, both teams have been heating up lately. The Huskies and Golden Eagles are both riding three-game winning streaks.

Consecutive wins aren’t all these squads have in common. Both are led by seniors, with guard Kristin Peoples and forward La’Kia Stewart leading the way for the Golden Flashes (11-9, 7-2). NIU (15-6, 6-3) has been getting solid play out of their big three of Stephanie Raymond, Kristin Wiener and Mary Basic. Sophomore Jessie Wilcox, coming off a career-high 24 points in NIU’s win over Miami University, will also be key to the Huskies’ success against Kent State.

Peoples leads Kent State with 16 points per game. Stewart isn’t far behind, contributing 13 points a night while pulling down more than eight rebounds on average.

“Stewart is a hard-working player and we’re going to have to contain her,” NIU head coach Carol Owens said. “They are a big pressure team, so we will have to be able to handle that.”

The Golden Eagles are strong on the offensive glass, where they are averaging a conference-best 15 offensive boards a game.

Defensively, NIU will look to slow down Kent State’s offense and force them into a half-court game.

“We can’t be on our heels,” Owens said. “This is going to be a tough road game for us, but because of our experience on the road I think we’ll be good.”