Northern Illinois: The women’s basketball team (6-3, 5-0), riding a six-game winning streak, plays host to Mid-Continent Conference rival Wisconsin-Green Bay (7-5, 6-0) on Thursday night. According to last week’s NCAA stats, the Huskies’ E.C. Hill was fifth in the nation in scoring at 24.6 points a game.
NIU will announce moderization plans for Huskie Stadium at a Tuesday press conference. A new 9,000-seat east side of the stadium will be built, among other things.
The nation gets its first live look Saturday at Huskies tailback LeShon Johnson. The All-American, who rushed for 1,976 yards, is playing in the Senior Bowl, which kicks off at 1 p.m. on ESPN. NIU didn’t play on live TV this year.
The wrestling team fell to 0-3 Sunday with a 20-15 loss to Central Michigan. Shannon Gregory (118 pounds), Jason Solomon (126), James Spillman (158), Terrell Alexander (177) and Demond Rodez (heavyweight) won decisions for NIU. The week before, Spillman won the 150-pound title at the Michigan State Open.
Plagued by injuries, the women’s gymnastics team finished last Sunday in the five-team Shakespeare Festival at Missouri with 181 points. Louisiana State won the meet with 190.1. NIU’s Margaret Mroz, bothered by a bruised heel, took sixth in all-around at 37.775 and fourth on floor exercise at 9.575. Danya Lia and Amy Davis were injured during the meet. Already out for the season were Nickie Pedicini (shoulder surgery) and Danielle Beauchesne (broken left foot).