ON TAP: The Miami University women's basketball team closes out the regular season on Saturday, March 8 versus Northern Illinois. Miami will honor four seniors prior to the 1 p.m. tip.

GOING STREAKING: Enjulina Gonzalez has scored in double figures 23-straight games, dating back to Dec. 1. She has surpassed 20 points eight different times this season, including a season-high 29 points in a win at FIU. The sophomore transfer from Mercer has been named MAC Player of the Week three times and currently ranks third in the MAC in scoring (16.7). Miami is 7-1 this season when she scores 20-plus points.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Amber Tretter has recorded 18 double-doubles in her career, including eight this year. On the season, she nearly averages a double-double in points (10.8) and rebounds (9.1). She has recorded double-doubles in four of her last five games including a 14 point, 20 rebound performance versus Buffalo.

SENIOR DAY: Prior to Saturday's tip, Miami will honor four seniors: Clare Chambers, Maya Chandler, Cori Lard and Katey Richason.

ABOUT NIU: The Huskies are 13-16 overall and 6-1 in MAC play. NIU is led by Chelby Koker, who averages 14.5 ppg., while Brooke Stonebraker averages 10.8 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 51st meeting between the two programs, with the series tied 25-25. Miami is 15-9 all-time at home versus the Huskies.

ROUND TWO WITH THE HUSKIES: Miami downed Northern Illinois 73-52 back on Jan. 15. Enjulina Gonzalez scored a game-high 25 points (20 in the first half), while Amber Tretter added 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. Miami forced 23 turnovers in the previous meeting, resulting in 31 points. 

NOTES FROM LOSS VERSUS CMU: 
• Miami fell 69-66 on Wednesday to Central Michigan in overtime. It was Miami's third overtime in the past seven contests.
• The RedHawks led 54-45 with 7:23 to play, but CMU scored the next 15 points to lead 60-54 with just over a minute remaining. Triples from Tamar Singer and Katey Richason sent the game to OT, but Maya Chandler's game-tying three-pointer came up just short.

WINNING WITH DEFENSE: Miami ranks atop the conference, allowing 57.6 points per game (45th nationally). The RedHawks have held seven opponents to under 50 points this season.
• Miami ranks 21st nationally, forcing 21.2 turnovers per contest. The RedHawks are 12-4 on the year when they force their opponent into 20-plus turnovers. 
• Miami leads the conference with 11.3 steals/game (21st nationally) and features five players ranked in the top-20 in the MAC: Tamar Singer (2.3, third), Enjulina Gonzalez (1.7, 11th), Cori Lard (1.6, 12th), Amber Tretter (1.5, 15th) and Maya Chandler (1.3, 19th).

DEFENSE SETTING RECORDS: Miami has a chance to do something never done before on the defensive end. The best defensive effort in a season was all the way back in 1977-78 when Miami allowed 56.9 points/game. This season, the RedHawks are currently allowing 57.6 points/game.

POINTING TO THE PAINT: Miami is 10-2 this season when they record at least 28 points in the paint and 2-3 this season when posting under 20 points in the paint.

TICKET PUNCHED!: With the win over EMU back on Feb. 26, Miami secured a spot in the 2025 MAC Tournament. If the tournament started today the RedHawks would be the No. 5 seed in Cleveland. A No. 5 seed would be the highest Miami tournament seed since the RedHawks were the No. 3 seed in the 2018-19 season. No players/coaches on the current Miami roster have ever participated in a tournament game in Cleveland.

CLEVELAND SCENARIOS: With just one game remaining, the RedHawks have locked up a spot in the MAC Tournament. Below are all scenerios prior to Saturday's contest.
Miami win/Kent State win/BGSU win: Miami is the #5 seed
Miami win/Kent State win/BGSU loss: Miami is the #5 seed
Miami win/Kent State loss/BGSU win: Miami is the #4 seed
Miami win/Kent State loss/BGSU loss: Miami is the #5 seed
Miami loss/Kent State win/BGSU win: Miami is the #6 seed
Miami loss/Kent State loss/BGSU win: Miami is the #6 seed
Miami loss/Kent State win/BGSU loss: Miami is the #5 seed
Miami loss/Kent State loss/BGSU loss: Miami is the #5 seed

THAT 70'S SHOW: It's not all about defense when it comes to Miami. The RedHawks are a perfect 10-0 this year when they score 70-plus points in a contest. 

BENCH PRESS: Head Coach Glenn Box has leaned heavily on his bench over the past three games. The 57 bench points over the past three games is the highest three-game stretch from the bench during MAC play this year. Miami got 22 points from its bench versus the Eagles (12 - Richason, 7- Jurjo, 3 - Edwards), another 22 against the Bobcats (13 - Edwards, 9 - Richason) and had 13 in the loss to CMU (Richason - 7, Lard - 6)

CHASING RECORDS: Miami has already surpassed last season's win total (9-20 last year) and at 10-7 in MAC play, the RedHawks have surpassed last season's conference win total (6-12 last season). The 18 wins this season is the most for a RedHawks' program since the 2018-19 squad won 23 contests. Below is a list of best single-season win totals this century.

Season -- Win Total
2007-08 - 23
2018-19 - 23
2003-04 - 22
2017-18 - 21
2011-12 - 21
2012-13 - 19
2001-02 - 19
2024-25 - 18

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Last season Miami averaged 53.9 ppg. and allowed 63.8 ppg. for a scoring margin of -9.9/game. This season the script has flipped as the RedHawks average 65.9 ppg. and allow 57.6 ppg. for a scoring margin of +8.3. Between the two seasons, Miami has a 18.2 improvement in scoring margin.

BIGGEST TURNAROUNDS: Miami has won nine more games than they did the previous year, which is the second-best season to season improvement in program history. A win over NIU would match the +10 win improvement the 2017-18 RedHawks accomplished (11 wins in 2016-17 // 21 wins in 2017-18).

BOMBS AWAY: Miami ranks sixth in the MAC in three pointers made per game (7.2) and are fifth in percentage made from behind the arc (32.3%). Enjulina Gonzalez (37.8%) ranks eighth in the MAC and six different RedHawks shoot at least 30% from long distance. 

TOE THE LINE: Miami averages just 13.0 free throw attempts per game, 320th in the nation. Miami is 8-2 on the year when they get to the free throw line at least 15 times. Miami has shot 10 or fewer free throws nine times this year.

1,000 POINT CLUB: Maya Chandler has scored 1,320 career points between three different programs. She has scored 284 points with the RedHawks, had 149 points in one season at SMU and in three years at Loyola-Chicago she scored 877 points and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020-21. She has played in 145 games throughout her career, making 125 starts.

SINGING HER PRAISES: Freshman Tamar Singer is playing 28.8 minutes a contest, third best on the team. She ranks seventh in the MAC in assists (4.2), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and third in steals (2.3). She has scored in double-figures six times this year and has posted at least five assists 13 different times.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: Senior Katey Richason is playing some of the best basketball of her career down the stretch of this 2024-25 season. While she averages just 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this season, she had 12 points back on Feb. 19 in a win over Akron and posted 12 points (six in OT) and three rebounds in a win over EMU (Feb. 26). Overall, she is averaging 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.2% (16-29) over the past five contests.