Ready or not, the NIU women’s basketball team’s regular season is about to start.

The Huskies will travel to Iowa City for a date with Missouri in the first round of the Hawkeye Challenge at 3 p.m. today.

“We’re going to find out if we’re ready and where we’re at as a team,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “We are at a point where we are just tired of playing ourselves.”

Missouri was 17-13 last season and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Stanford. NIU finished 12-16 last season and lost to Marshall in the first round of the MAC tournament.

The Huskies outrebounded their opponents by 49 in their two preseason games but now must deal with Missouri’s size.

The Tigers’ starting lineup features three 6-foot-3 starters while the Huskies have a three-guard lineup with their tallest starter as 6-foot-2 Kristin Wiener.

“We’re going to have to find a way around their size,” said freshman forward Nikita Odom, who averaged 11 points and five and a half rebounds in the preseason. “We’ll rely on our quickness and just try to play our own game.”

The winner of the game will play the winner of Southern Illinois vs. Iowa on Saturday.