ON TAP: Miami plays host to Northern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. at Millett Hall. The contest will be Miami's fourth home game in the last five contests.

LAST TIME OUT: Miami had its second-best defensive effort of the season, but dropped a 61-41 decision to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. In the loss, the Eagles shot just 35.7 percent from the floor, but Miami recorded a season-high 30 turnovers in the loss. Peyton Scott had 14 points and was joined by Kelly McLaughlin and her 11 points in double figures.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies are 5-5 overall and 3-2 in MAC play, which includes a 104-73 win over Central Michigan on Wednesday. Chelby Koker leads the way with 19.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. NIU averages 10.7 three-pointers made per contest and has five players shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc.

SERIES WITH NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The series is tied at 21-21 all-time versus NIU. The two teams split a pair of contests last year. NIU won 86-84 in overtime in Dekalb and Miami captured a 66-64 victory at home a year ago.

DYNAMIC DUO: The backcourt duo of sophomore Peyton Scott and freshman Katie Davidson are averaging a combined 30.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. 

BENCH PRESS: In Miami's first six contests of the year they managed just 51 total bench points (8.5/game). In its last four games the RedHawks have combined for 51 points (12.8/game) off the bench. Much of that credit goes to Jada Duckett, who has 31 points off the bench in the past four games.

GREAT SCOTT: Peyton Scott had a banner year for the RedHawks in 2019-20, averaging 12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, earning All-MAC Freshman honors, but that is nothing compared to what she is doing in 2020-21. The sophomore is averaging 17.8 points and 5.7 rebounds this season. Playing much of this season as the team's point guard, Scott is also averaging 4.8 assists per game after averaging just 2.2 a year ago. She ranks 10th in the MAC in scoring, 21st in rebounding, second in assists, 11th in steals (1.8), eighth in free throw percentage (86.4%) and fourth in minutes played (36.4).

FRESHMAN PHENOM: Katie Davidson has made a quick impression on the basketball team. The freshman has scored in double figures in eight of nine games in her career and is averaging 13.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.  Her scoring average ranks 17th in the MAC and is second-best (16th nationally) in the conference among freshmen, trailing only BGSU's Lexi Fleming (19.6). She also has a chance to become one of Miami's best freshman in school history, despite the shortened season. Davidson is currently on pace to score 341 points, which would be the sixth-most points in Miami history for a freshmen, trailing only Lauren Dickerson (520), Courtney Osborn (513), Kim Lancaster (432), Amanda Jackson (391) and Peyton Scott (376). 

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: Kelly McLaughlin scored 188 points and had 125 rebounds in her first three years with the RedHawks, averaging 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds. This year, the senior has already scored 129 points and recorded 84 rebounds in 10 games for an average of 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. She ranks 18th in the MAC in scoring third in rebounds.

POUND THE BOARDS: Despite its incredibly tough schedule, Miami leads the MAC in rebounding margin at +8.2 per game, but what they are doing on the offensive glass is even better. Miami has at least 10 offensive rebounds in nine of 10 contests this season and over its last five MAC games Miami has 68 offensive boards. Miami ranks 27th in the country with 15.0 offensive rebounds per game.