Led by what NIU women’s basketball coach Carol Hammerle called “the dynamic duo” of Jennifer Youngblood and Joi Scott, the Huskies will face Ball State for the second time in five days at 12:05 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center.

NIU (12-15 overall, 7-9 MAC) defeated the Cardinals on Tuesday behind Youngblood and Scott, who scored 18 and 20 points, respectively. NIU split the season series with Ball State, falling 70-57 on Feb. 7 at Muncie, Ind.

“My shots are really starting to fall,” Scott said. “I’m just focusing on the right things right now.”

If NIU wins against Ball State, it will advance to the quarterfinals against the MAC’s top seed, Miami-Ohio, on Wednesday at Cleveland’s Gund Arena.

Miami (20-7, 14-2), winner of the Eastern-Division and the MAC regular-season title, earned its fourth No. 1 seed since 1990.

“I’m happy to see that we’re in a position to host – that’s huge,” Hammerle said. “I don’t think it matters who we play; we get to host any team that comes in here and see that we beat them. As a team, we’re really playing together. We’re unstoppable right now.”

Kate Endress led the Cardinals on Tuesday with 23 points and averages 19.2 points per game. Ball State needs a confidence booster and will be looking to avenge its Tuesday loss, Cardinals coach Tracy Roller said.

“I don’t want to lose by 20 again,” Roller said. “Defensively especially, we’ve got to work on our post defense. Right now, I’ve yet to figure out what motivates my team. You can coax them only so much as a coach, but eventually you need a win. We need a win Saturday.”

Miami-Ohio, Eastern Michigan (19-7, 12-4) and Kent State (19-8, 12-4) earned first-round byes for the tournament. No. 3 Kent State is the only team to have beaten Miami in MAC play. Following the quarterfinals, semifinal games will take place March 12 and the championship game on March 13.