NIU women's basketball to play in Las Vegas

The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team's 2014-15 schedule includes the program's first trip to Las Vegas since the 1988-89 season and its first game at a Southeast Conference foe since 1995 when it heads to Missouri.

NIU will open the regular season at home on Friday, Nov. 14 when it hosts Illinois State.

For the second-straight season, the Huskies will head West for Thanksgiving as it plays in UNLV's Lady Rebel Roundup where it will meet South Dakota State in the tournament opener Saturday, November 29. NIU will close the tournament the following day, meeting either Delaware State or UNLV.

"I think it's a really good mix of local teams for those area bragging rights, playing Bradley, Valparaiso, UIC and Illinois State, which is really exciting," said Huskies head coach Kathi Bennett. "We also get the chance to play one of the premier mid-majors in the country in South Dakota State in UNLV's tournament so those are going to be a really tough game. Then we have a chance right before Christmas to play Missouri."

NIU finished 2013-14 with a 11-19 record including a 6-12 mark in the MAC, finishing ninth during conference play. The Huskies return all five of their full-time starters this season, including senior Amanda Corral (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) who entered the 1,000 point club last season and was a third-team All-MAC selection as she averaged 13.5 points per game.