ON TAP: The Miami University women's basketball team looks for its second conference win on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at Northern Illinois. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m.

HUNGRY LIKE A WOLF: After an outstanding freshman campaign, where she averaged 12.6 points per contest,  sophomore Ivy Wolf has taken the next step in her career. Wolf is third in the MAC in scoring (18.1) and 11th in assists (3.4). She has scored at least 15 points in 15 of 17 games this season and over her past four games she is shooting 51.6% (16-31) from behind the arc.

HOME SWEET HOME: Miami is currently 6-3 at Millett Hall this season and 0-8 on the road. Miami's last road win was Feb. 5, 2022 at Western Michigan.

MIAMI'S BIG-3: The RedHawks have three of the top-15 scorers in the MAC, highlighted by Ivy Wolf (18.1, 3rd), Maddi Cluse (15.1, 8th) and Peyton Scott (13.4, 15th). Combined, the trio scores 46 of Miami's 69 points per contest. Miami is the lone school in the conference with three scorers ranked in the top-15 (NIU and WMU have two).

REDHAWKS FALL AT BALL STATE: In Miami's most recent game, the RedHawks dropped a 92-61 decision at Ball State last Saturday. Miami trailed 52-48 with 3:47 left in the third, but the Cardinals closed on a 40-13 run in the final 14 minutes of the game. Ivy Wolf had a team-high 19 points. Katey Richason added career-highs in points (13) and rebounds (10) for her first career double-double, while Maddi Cluse added 13 points and Peyton Scott chipped in with 12.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: NIU is 10-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Huskies rank sixth in the MAC, scoring 70.7 points per contest. They are led in scoring by Chelby Koker (15.9) and A'jah Davis (14.9). Davis ranks second in the MAC, averaging 11.3 rebounds per game.

SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: This will be the 45th meeting between the two programs, with NIU holding a slight 23-21 advantage in the all-time series. Miami won the only matchup a year ago, 61-56, in Oxford, Ohio, but the RedHawks have not won in DeKalb since Jan. 31, 2018 (77-62).

GETTING A CLUE: After an up and down freshman season, where Maddi Cluse averaged 6.5 points per contest, the second-year RedHawk seems to have things figured out in 2022-23. Cluse currently ranks eighth in the MAC with a 15.1 scoring average. She is also seventh in rebounding (7.5) and eighth in shooting percentage (.441). 

MAGICAL MILESTONES: While the season is still fairly early, Miami has seen a few outstanding milestones hit this season:
• Dec. 11 -- Ivy Wolf scored her 500th career point, the third fastest in program history to do so. 
• Dec. 16 -- Peyton Scott scored her 1,500th career point.
• Dec. 16 -- Maddi Cluse recorded the second triple-double in program history, registering 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in an 82-56 win over Bradley. The last triple-double for Miami was from Linda Mallender on Dec. 14, 1984.
• Dec. 17 -- Peyton Scott secured her 500th career rebound, becoming just one of three RedHawks in program history to score 1,500 points and record 500 career rebounds. 

GREAT SCOTT: Senior guard Peyton Scott has accomplished a ton since arriving in Oxford, all while maintaining a 3.78 grade-point average and majoring in sports leadership and management.
• Scott suffered an ACL tear on March 5, 2022 at Akron and returned to play on Nov. 21, 2022 against Western Kentucky.
• She has scored 1,629 points and ranks fifth all-time on Miami's scoring list.
• Scott was named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Award Watch List.
• Two seasons ago, she scored 30-plus points in five different games, including 39 versus Ball State, a new Millett Hall record. She has surpassed 30-plus points six different times in her career.
• She has scored in double figures 83 times in her career and has surpassed 20 points 30 different times.
• Named second-team All-MAC the past two seasons and was on the MAC All-Freshman team in 2019-20.
• Scott has started 94 of 97 games in her career.

SCHOLARSHIP OFFER:  The new semester started with a bang for sophomore Clare Chambers as Coach Hendrix awarded Chambers a scholarship to begin 2023. After seeing action in just two games last season, Chambers has played in all 16 games this year and is averaging 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest.

SHOOTING STARS: Miami is having its best season shooting under Coach Hendrix. As a team, Miami is shooting 43.1% from the floor (previous best was 40.3% in 2021-22) and 34.9% from behind the arc (previous best was 29.2% in 2021-22).

SENIOR MOMENT:  Amani Freeman has truly saved the best for last. This season she has career bests in minutes played (21.9), free throw percentage (.629), rebounds (4.4), assists (0.9) and scoring (6.6).

TRIPLE THREATS: When it comes to shooting from distance, few do it better than Ivy Wolf and Peyton Scott. Wolf ranks third in the MAC with a 41.3% percentage from behind the arc. Scott ranks sixth at 40.0%.