Last season, then-ranked No. 4 Kansas State women’s basketball team came to DeKalb and narrowly escaped with a win.

The Huskies played well before falling five points short of upsetting one of the nation’s best teams.

Today, the Huskies (2-1) take on the Wildcats on the road in a 7 p.m. rematch.

“We gained confidence from playing them last year,” NIU senior guard Stephanie Smith said. “We played really good basketball in the game last year. We stuck together, played as a team and played some good defense.”

This season, the Wildcats (2-2) are ranked No. 9 and are coming off a loss to No. 7 Penn State on Saturday.

NIU won its first two games before losing to Western Illinois on Saturday.

“I don’t think the loss is going to have an effect on the way we play,” NIU coach Carole Hammerle said. “Kansas State is ranked No. 9 in the country; I think that is plenty of motivation.”

KSU has three players averaging more than 10 points per game this year.

Junior forward Kendra Wecker leads the team, averaging 15 points a game, while junior guard Laurie Koehn has a 14-point average.

Senior Nicole Ohlde ranks third on the team in points, but has garnered the most attention on the team. The 6-foot-5 center averages 11 points a game and was named one of the nation’s top 5 players by ESPN.com.

Last season, Ohlde earned All-American honors and was named the Big-12 Player of The Year. Ohlde hurt her ankle in the middle of the first half and sat out the rest of the Wildcats game on Sunday.

Wecker received preseason All-American honors.

Wecker leads the Wildcats in steals with 11. As a team, KSU averages four more steals per game than its opponents.

NIU has a double-digit scoring trio of its own. Seniors Lindsay Secrest and Monique Davis and sophomore Joi Scott come into the game averaging more than 10 points a game. Secrest leads the team with 12.7 ppg, while Davis and Scott are averaging 11.3 ppg.