DEKALB, IL - Toledo (19-8, 10-6 MAC) will look to continue its late-season roll on Wednesday, March 1 when the Midnight Blue & Gold travels to Northern Illinois (19-8, 12-4 MAC). The opening tip against the Huskies is slated for 8:00 p.m. (CT) in the Convocation Center and will be televised on the American Sports Network and streamed on ESPN3. Tomorrow's Mid-American Conference West Division showdown can also be seen on WNWO-2 in the Toledo area.

The Rockets have won seven of their last nine games, including a 75-67 home triumph over Western Michigan on Saturday.

UT is currently tied for fifth place in the overall MAC standings with Ohio (19-8, 10-6 MAC)  and trails Central Michigan (21-7, 13-3 MAC), Ball State (20-8, 13-3), NIU and Kent State (17-11, 11-5) with two regular-season contests remaining. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they do not own the tiebreaker with the Bobcats, as they lost both head-to-head meetings with their MAC cross-division foe earlier this year.

If the regular season ended before tomorrow's game, Toledo would be the No. 6 seed in the MAC Tournament. The top four seeds receive an automatic bye to the quarterfinals of the postseason event. If UT does not secure one of the byes, it will host a first-round contest regardless of its final seeding on Monday, March 6.

The Rockets, who are 8-4 away from home this season, can still clinch a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament if they win both of their final two contests, coupled with the Golden Flashes and Huskies both losing their last two games and the Bobcats falling at least one time this week. 

In Saturday's victory over the Broncos, sophomore Mikaela Boyd paced UT with a career-high 23 points, to go along with a squad-best nine boards and a team-high three thefts. Senior Janice Monakana and sophomore Kaayla McIntyre were also in double figures for the Rockets with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

As a team, Toledo shot a season-high 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the floor, including an impressive 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from three-point range, and 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the free throw line to secure their seventh-straight victory over the Broncos (16-11, 7-9 MAC).

Toledo also did a good job sharing the basketball and finished with 20 assists on 27 field goals.

The Rockets were also active defensively and forced Western Michigan into committing 20 turnovers, as well as registering 12 thefts, their second-highest total in a conference game this year.

For the season, the Rockets are fueled offensively by the quartet of Monakana, Bravo-Harriott, Boyd and McIntyre, who are averaging 12.5, 12.0, 11.9 and 10.6 ppg, respectively. This group accounts for 63.3 percent of the team's scoring.

Toledo will square off against a NIU squad that has split its last six contests, most recently claiming an 81-71 home victory at Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Courtney Woods led four Huskies in double figures with 22 points, followed by Kelly Smith, Ally Lehman and Mikayla Voigt with 17, 16 and 15, respectively.

Northern Illinois, which is 9-3 at home, features a high-powered offense with five players tallying at least 10.9 points per game, led by Lehman and Woods tallying 18.0 and 17.1 ppg, respectively. 

The Huskies are currently second in the MAC in scoring offense (83.7 ppg) and third in both overall field-goal percentage (.428, 476-of-1,111) and three-point field-goal percentage (.345, 112-of-325) in league games, while Toledo is first in scoring defense (62.4 ppg), overall field-goal percentage defense (.371, 346-of-933) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (.244, 78-of-322).

UT and NIU will meet for the second time this year and 51st time overall. The Midnight Blue & Gold suffered a 77-73 home setback against the Huskies in Savage Arena on Jan. 14. 

Toledo holds a 31-19 (.620) lead in the all-time series, but has split the last six meetings against Northern Illinois.

NIU maintains a 13-10 (.565) edge in contests played in DeKalb, emerging victorious in six of the last 10 match-ups in the Convocation Center. A season ago, UT secured an 89-83 overtime triumph against NIU on the road (Feb. 27).

Following tomorrow's contest, the Rockets will wrap up their regular season at MAC West Division co-leader Ball State on Saturday, March 4. The opening tip versus the Cardinals is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Worthen Arena and the MAC West Division showdown will be streamed on ESPN3.

UT and BSU will clash for the second time this year and 77th time overall. The Midnight Blue & Gold suffered a 51-45 setback against the Cardinals in its MAC opener in Savage Arena on Dec. 31.     

Toledo leads the all-time series, 52-24, but has dropped the last six meetings against its MAC West Division foe. 

UT also holds a 22-14 (.611) edge in contests played in Muncie but has lost six of the nine match-ups in Worthen Arena. A year ago, Toledo dropped a 75-69 decision at Ball State (Jan. 2, 2016).