Going into the first round MAC game, NIU women's coach Carol Hammerle knew her team would have to control the offensive glass to be successful.

Hammerle's team did anything but in a 70-58 loss to Marshall (12-16) on March 8 at the Convocation Center.

The Thundering Herd avenged an 81-74 regular season loss by collecting 49 rebounds, compared to NIU's 31.

"This game is the best example of the importance of doing the little things," Hammerle said. "We didn't control the offensive boards. That was the difference in the game. They could throw up whatever shots they wanted and then get second and third chances."

NIU (12-16) was able to jump out to a 37-32 halftime lead behind three players with first half double-figure performances. Lindsay Secrest contributed 11, while Kristan Knake and Jennifer Youngblood added 10 apiece.

However, Knake and Youngblood were able to combine for only seven points in the second half as the Thundering Herd outscored NIU 38-21 after intermission.

"In the second half, we were doing some good things and were able to get a nine-point lead," Hammerle said. "That's when [Marshall] elevated their game and we didn't respond."

Marshall placed four players in double figures led by Sikeetha Shepard-Hall with 20.

As for the Huskies, Knake capped her career in elite NIU company. In her final game as a Huskie, Knake scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.

Knake is now one of only four NIU players with 1,200 points, 300 assists and 200 steals.

The loss to Marshall ended an injury-plagued season for the Huskies.

Jamie Wilson and Elizabeth Strobel missed the entire season with injuries while Kim Boeding missed much of the conference season with vertigo. Knake also missed two games with an ankle injury.

"This has been a very frustrating year," Hammerle said. "Coming in, my expectations were very high. We needed more help off the bench. We began relying too much on our starting five and didn't get production off the bench."

Marshall had only a brief stay in Cleveland for the MAC Tournament before losing to No. 1 seeded Toledo.

Would you like to improve your test-taking skills in one hour?

You may be able to do just that Wednesday night.

From 7 to 8 p.m., NIU's Career Counseling Center and the University Resources for Latinos will offer a workshop, "Ace-ing It: Test-Taking Strategies that Won't Chew Up Your Pencil," on ways for students to become better test takers.

The workshop will be held at the Latino Center, 515 Garden Road.

"My main goal for the workshop is for students to come out of it with a better ability to take tests," said Brian Pillsbury, coordinator for the Career Counseling Center and presenter at the workshop.

"I'm going to be improving students' knowledge of knowing what types of tests their about to take, such as multiple choice and true/false tests," Pillsbury said. "Students need to be familiar with what material they need to know and how to lower their anxiety levels while taking their tests."

The Career Counseling Center has had a lot of other outreach workshops like this, working together with several on-campus groups, such as the University Resources for Latinos on similar topics.

"The counseling center's main objective comes from a variety of different groups," Pillsbury said. "The real objective for us is to connect with the university."

Pillsbury said he is hoping to attract more than 20 students, which is more than past seminars.

"Since the workshop will be held at the Latino Center," Pillsbury said, "I'm hoping that other students come as well. I certainly hope anyone who takes a test will come and take advantage of this."

Refreshments will be served afterward. The workshop is free for all students.

After finishing the MAC regular season in a three-way tie for first place, the NIU wrestling team took second place in the MAC Championships on March 9.

NIU finished the MAC Championships with 70.5 points. Central Michigan took the crown as it tallied 93 points in the two-day tourney.

Both the Huskies and the Chippewas had the same amount of conference champions, with three apiece.

"This is a tough tournament," coach Dave Grant said. "The thing that we have to key on is the fact that we have three champions. We won a third of the titles and that's impressive."

NIU's 157-pound Scott Owen, 184-pound Ben Heizer and 133-pound Sam Hiatt all won their weight-classes. Josh Wooton, a 141-pounder, took second to earn a wild-card spot. Marlon Felton, a 125-pounder, was selected as an alternate.

Owen faced Eastern Michigan's Chad Roush in his first-round match-up. After a quick takedown, it took Owen only 26 seconds to pin him.

After the quick disposal of Roush, the second-ranked Owen took on CMU's David Bolyard and won with a final of 14-3.

In the championship match, Owen beat Buffalo's Labe Black 22-8. With his dominating performances, the sixth-year senior won his second-straight Most Outstanding Wrestler at the MAC Championships.

"I had the same philosophy as I always have," Owen said. "It's always attack, attack, attack. I also like to be on the move and score a lot of points. That's good for me. I just tried to keep scoring and it worked out."

Heizer had a first-round bye and faced Buffalo's Garrett Bontempo in the second round.

Heizer said that match was a "control match" and won easily with a final of 8-0.

From there he went on to to grapple with CMU's Russ Vanderheyden in the championship.

Heizer said he was a little flustered after Vanderheyden took a 3-0 lead and had to refocus in that match. Heizer went on to take a 6-5 victory for the title.

"I was still a little rusty," Heizer said. "But, I still have a couple of weeks before Nationals. I don't feel it was a good performance on my part, but I still got the win."

Hiatt beat Kent State's Drew Opfer 10-4 in his first match, won a tight match against UB's Mike Trotta 4-2 before heading to the title match.

In the title match, he met Anthony Carrizales from Ohio, who beat Hiatt last year in the MAC Championships. The match went back-and-forth with Hiatt eventually winning 6-5. Being crowned champion was special for Hiatt, especially since it was on his birthday.

"Sam beat him in the dual meet after losing to him in the semis of last year's tournament and that probably kept Sam from going to Nationals," Grant said. "I think that stuck with Sam all year long and he worked hard. He gave himself a great birthday present."

Wooton, a freshman, won his first two matches setting up a rematch against CMU's Jason Mester, who Wooton beat earlier this year, and lost 11-6, setting up a second-place match for Wooton. There, he didn't waste any time as he pinned OU's Paul Hodermarsky in the first period, setting up his wild-card invitation.

With the team taking second, Owen was pleased with how well he and the team performed.

"When we came into this, we said we wouldn't be happy unless we came out as champs," Owen said. "Our guys wrestled hard and came out a little short. We should be proud because everyone wrestled hard."

There is good news for students who want to graduate with honors but are not members of the University Honors Program. Students can participate in their major department's individual honors program.

Sometimes, the individual program of the department will qualify a student for the university program as well, so it would be possible for a student to receive both departmental and university honors, said University Honors Program Director Michael Martin.

Martin said that, contrary to myth, students do not have to be freshmen or sophomores to begin the University Honors Program. Many transfer students, including juniors, have gone through the University Honors Program and still graduated on time, he said.

In order to graduate with university honors, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, at least 27 credit hours of honors coursework (12 of which must be outside the major), completion of a seminar and a capstone project.

It is not necessarily easier to graduate with departmental honors than to earn university honors, said William Blair, department chair of mathematical sciences. However, he said that it is easier to start out in the honors program as a freshman and later receive departmental honors than it is to begin a departmental program and then try to also fulfill the requirements for university honors later on as a junior.

This is because the University Honors Program requires honors coursework in general education classes, which are usually completed by the time a student reaches his or her junior year. However, Blair said that it is very common for students to graduate with both university and departmental honors.

The required cumulative GPA in departmental classes is higher for departmental honors than the required 3.2 for university honors. Students who wish to receive departmental honors in mathematical sciences, for example, must have a 3.5 or higher overall GPA in their math classes. The same is true for the departments of history, geography and foreign languages. Other departments, such as geology, require a 3.4.

Nicole Fulton, a junior corporate communication major and peer adviser for the University Honors Program, began the program at the beginning of her sophomore year.

Fulton said students can begin at any point in their college year because there are two divisions - upper and lower - to choose from, depending on where the student is at in his or her academic career. For students who wish to complete both divisions of the honors program, however, Fulton recommended beginning as soon as possible.

A crack in the case of the thefts at the Student Recreation Center led University Police to an arrest over Spring Break.

Christopher Dyer, 25, of 1 Pheasant Run was arrested Friday afternoon at the University Police station after investigators following a lead uncovered his name as a suspect. Dyer later was brought in to the UP station for an interview.

Sgt. Albert Ekstrom could not comment on whether Dyer confessed, but said the suspect was charged following the interview. He was charged with theft and then released on an I-bond. Ekstrom said that leads still are being pursued by investigators and officers are trying to determine if others were involved.

Nine thefts occurred in a span of a week from the Rec at the end of January. Personal items were taken from unlocked lockers in the men's locker room. This is the first arrest that has been made in the case.

If anyone has information regarding the burglaries, they may call University Police at 753-1212.