Ben Gross – Sports Reporter

DeKALB | There were no banners, balloons or even a congratulatory scoreboard video when it happened Saturday afternoon. It seemed to be just another normal moment at the Convocation Center.

With 4:10 left in the second half and the Huskies on top of Akron by 12, NIU senior Kristin Wiener stepped up to the foul line.

Receiving the ball from the referee, she brought it low to the ground. The forward made a couple of quick dribbles, then sank the basket. Following the same routine, the Apple Valley, Minn., native sank another foul shot, her fourth in as many tries.

Though it would be her last point of the afternoon, her 16th proved to be the right number, as the senior had just scored her 1000th career point.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Wiener said. “I never thought I would accomplish it.”

A few seconds after the foul shots, an official time-out was called on the floor. Wiener went to the bench, where she was greeted with handshakes, high fives and words of congratulations. An announcement made over the P.A. system brought the 831 fans present to a healthy round of applause.

However, there were two fans in attendance who didn’t need a broadcasted message to know what Wiener had just accomplished — her parents.

“We actually knew there was a chance she would,” mother Chris Wiener said. “We hadn’t talked to her about it though, as not to jinx it.”

The Wieners wouldn’t be able to attend the senior’s next game, and knew if they wanted to witness the milestone that it would have to happen at this game.

After the buzzer sounded, Wiener’s father took it upon himself to call other media outlets to share the good news.

But the person he most wanted to share the moment with was his daughter.

“I’m very proud for her,” father Charles Wiener said. “I hope to share in all her career goals.”

Ben Gross is a sports reporter for the Northern Star.

Andy Pruski — Sports Reporter

DeKALB | Everyone knows defense wins championships. But, that doesn’t mean the offense can’t win you some games with offense in the meantime.

The Huskies (12-5, 4-2) were able to shoot themselves out of trouble as they defeated Akron (7-11, 0-6) 81-70 at the Convocation Center Saturday afternoon.

NIU senior guard Stephanie Raymond was firing on all cylinders early on, converting on nine of her first 10 field goal attempts. She finished with a game-high 26 points.

“Our main focus today was to attack from the get-go,” Raymond said. “Not just me, but the whole team.”

Akron fell behind early and trailed by 12 at the break, before opening up the second half with a 6-0 run to pull within six.

That’s as close as Raymond allowed the Zips to get, as she answered with one of her four three-pointers of the night.

Down the stretch, the Huskies looked inside for Kristin Wiener, who scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half. Wiener tallied her 1000th career point late in the second half on a free throw.

Akron was led by sophomore Niki McCoy and freshman Sarah Tokodi, who scored 21 and 17 points, respectively.

Another bright spot for NIU was the play off the bench of Margaret Batteast. After seeing limited time this season due to injury, she is now being worked back into the rotation and scored six points in 14 minutes of play.

“She went aggressively off the bench, which is what we needed,” NIU coach Carol Owens said. “I think she’s finally 100 percent. She is tough, she is physical and she can guard some of the bigger guards for us and it will help us out a lot.”

Andy Pruski is the NIU women’s basketball beat reporter for the Northern Star.