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Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student news organization since 1899

 

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Gymnastics to take on Eastern Michigan at final home meet

By Matt Hopkinson | February 27, 2013

As women’s gymnastics prepares for its final home meet, there is a building sense of confidence but also a bit of unpredictability. The Huskies (3-4, 1-3 MAC) will look to apply that confidence and win their final appearance at home against the visiting...

Women’s basketball regroups after lead scorer injury

By Bob Kreider | February 25, 2013

The women’s basketball team is approaching the end of its regular season and has three games left before the start of the MAC tournament. NIU is 7-19, 2-11 MAC and hasn’t been able to win consistently. Injuries have plagued the team and the loss of...

Wrestling triumphs over dual meet weekend

By Ed Rietveld | February 24, 2013

Wrestling finished its regular season Sunday with two road duel meets at Cleveland State University against Gardner-Webb University (4-13) and the Cleveland State Vikings (4-10). The Huskies (10-8) were able to finish as the regular season winners of...

Track and field finishes 10th in MAC championships

By Ed Rietveld | February 24, 2013

The indoor portion of the MAC track and field season concluded this weekend with the conference championships. NIU finished 10th out of 12 teams with 16 points. Kent State dominated, finishing first with 175 points, while the host, the Eagles of Eastern...

Track and field to finish indoor season at Eastern Michigan

By Ed Rietveld | February 20, 2013

Track and field finishes the indoor portion of its season this weekend when it competes in the MAC indoor championships Friday and Saturday at Eastern Michigan University. Last weekend, the Huskies got a taste of what the MAC championships could be like...

Women’s basketball falls to Toledo

By Bob Kreider | February 20, 2013

The Huskies were handed a tough road loss, 42-70, against the MAC-leading Toledo Rockets Wednesday.

The Huskies (7-18, 2-10 MAC) weren’t able to get around the Rockets’ defense, which kept pressure on NIU’s offense throughout the game. NIU went into the locker room trailing 19-29 at halftime and was outscored 41-23 in the second half. The Rockets’ defense held NIU to an 18.2 field goal percentage in the second half, only allowing the Huskies to make four shots on 22 attempts.

“Toledo is one of the better defensive teams that we have seen,” said NIU head coach Kathi Bennett. “They forced us into a lot of turnovers throughout the game.”

NIU totaled 23 turnovers, leading to 29 points for the Rockets. Despite shooting 35.7 percent in the first half, the Rockets managed to convert on 60.9 percent of their shots in the second half. Led by redshirt senior guard Naama Shafir’s 25 points, the Rockets managed to shoot 47.1 percent for the game against the Huskies’ third-ranked defense.

Sophomore forward Natecia Augusta discussed Toledo’s defensive approach on Wednesday.

“They put a lot of pressure on our guards and were denying us inside, so the middle was all clogged up,” Augusta said. “It was hard to make plays with [Toledo] flying around.”

Augusta led the Huskies in scoring with 12 points on 2-4 shooting. Augusta shot a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line and felt the Huskies were able to work the ball inside toward the end of the game.

“At the end we got the floor spread out more and I just settled in,” Augusta said. “We just struggle with starting slow. We’ve got to come in more prepared for that. It’s all mental with us.”

The Huskies’ most recent wins have come with some form of production inside. Despite the point differential late in the game, Bennett was happy to see the team get the offense going in the paint.

“We established low-post play late in the game,” Bennett said. “I thought that it was one bright spot of the game.”

The Huskies will play this Saturday on the road against Ball State (11-13, 8-3 MAC). The Cardinals are ranked third in the MAC West division and beat the Huskies 51-57 in their previous matchup despite senior forwards Satavia Taylor’s career-high 24-point game. The Huskies will need to take care of the ball against the Cardinals, who are currently ranked second in the MAC in turnover margin at +3.00.

Men’s wrestling to take on dual meet in Ohio

By Ed Rietveld | February 20, 2013

The wrestling team closes out the regular season with a pair of dual meet contests on the road against Gardner-Webb and Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday. The Huskies (8-8, 1-4 MAC) are coming off their first dual meet victory since...

Men’s basketball could finish the season strong

By Brian Earle | February 19, 2013

As the men’s college basketball season begins to wind down, each game becomes more important and has huge implications in the seeding for conference tournaments. Right now, the Huskies (5-19, 3-9 MAC) are in fifth place in the MAC West, one spot ahead...

Track and field continues strong indoor season at Ball State

By Ed Rietveld | February 17, 2013

Track and field finished the regular portion of its indoor season with the Ball State University Quadrilateral meet Friday. The meet gave the Huskies a chance to compete against three MAC schools ahead of this weekend’s MAC indoor conference championships....

Wrestling triumphs in dual meet weekend

By Ed Rietveld | February 17, 2013

The wrestling team did something on Saturday that it hasn’t done since Jan. 6: It won a dual meet. The Huskies (8-8, 1-4 MAC) snapped a five-dual-meet losing streak with their 20-18 back-and-forth victory over the University of Buffalo Bulls (1-10,...

Iowa pulls off an upset over women’s gymnastics

By Matt Hopkinson | February 17, 2013

Seemingly picking up right where it left off, the women’s gymnastics team posted its second score in the 194 territory in a loss to Iowa State. The Huskies (3-3, 1-2 MAC) hit every routine, going 24-24 to post a 194.375, but came up short as the Cyclones...

Women’s basketball falls to Bowling Green

By Bob Kreider | February 17, 2013

It was a tough loss for the women’s basketball team as the Huskies fell Saturday at the Convocation Center to Bowling Green State, 49-60. The Falcons (16-8, 7-4 MAC) were too much for the Huskies’ (7-17, 2-9 MAC) defense and made scoring look easy...