Baseball: Northern Illinois went 2-3 during the week, but grabbed a critical series victory during the weekend against Eastern Michigan. After a 13-2 loss to UW-Milwaukee and a 4-3 defeat at Bradley, the Huskies rebounded with a tight 1-0 victory in the series opener against the Eagles of EMU. The home-standing Eagles would even the series with a 7-5 win on Saturday, but NIU took the three-game set with a 3-1 win.

Softball: The Huskies struggled in the diamond, but gained a big victory in MAC action. NIU began their week with a 12-3 loss against Northwestern. Yet, Northern grabbed a big 4-3 win against league-leading Bowling Green before losing the second game, 15-2. The Huskies would finish their weekend with two losses in a Sunday doubleheader at Toledo by 10-0 and 4-3 margins.

Track & Field: Northern Illinois capped its regular season off on a high note over the weekend at the Drake Relays and UW-Whitewater Alternative Meet. In Des Moines, the Huskies posted two top-five finishes, including a third-place finish in the 4x100 relay, and broke five school records. At UW-Whitewater, NIU brought home six event titles, while seven different athletes set new personal records.

Women's Golf: NIU concluded its 2011-12 season with an eighth-place finish at the 2012 Mid-American Conference Women's Golf Championships at Hawthorns Golf & Country Club in Fishers, Ind. Sunday. Senior Kelsie Passolt finished her NIU career on high note, turning in her lowest score of the season for a three-round event carding a 223 (78-80-75) to tie for eighth place, a career-best finish at the MAC Championships.

Men's Tennis: With a 3-2 lead late in the contest, the Huskies fell to Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals, 4-3. The Huskies end their impressive 2012 season 21-7.

Women's Tennis: Northern Illinois dropped its quarterfinal matchup of the Mid-American Conference Tournament against the No. 2-seeded Akron Zips (22-3, 7-1 MAC) on Friday, 4-0. The loss marked the end of the Huskies' season as the team finished with an 11-12 overall record and a 2-6 mark in MAC play.

Three NIU teams will compete in the last week before final exams. Men's golf hosts the MAC Championships at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., starting Friday. Meanwhile, baseball takes on Northwestern at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill., and travels to UIC before hosting Central Michigan in a three-game weekend series, while softball caps off their regular season with games at Notre Dame and Western Michigan.

Baseball: The Huskies' week got off to a rough start Tuesday when they were dealt a 22-3 loss from Illinois State. The team rebounded quite well on Friday, as NIU took an 8-7 victory against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Following Saturday's washout, the Huskies claimed the series behind a 7-5 victory in Sunday's first game, then got the sweep in the night cap with a wild 13-11 win against MU.

Softball: Northern Illinois went 2-3 during their week-long homestand at Mary M. Bell Field. On Tuesday, the Huskies' bats were silenced in a 6-1 decision against DePaul. Things would not improve on Friday, as NIU got swept in a doubleheader against Buffalo, 7-3 and 8-3. The team got back on the winning track Saturday with a 7-3 win against Kent State, then completed the two-game sweep with a 9-4 win on Senior Day.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team closed out their weekend at the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational on a high note, taking four event titles Saturday in Macomb, Ill. Despite holding several of their top performers out of the meet, the Huskies took third place in the 13-team field with 126 points. Marquette won the meet with 202 points, while host Western Illinois was runner-up with 165.5 points.

Men's Golf: Junior Kurtis Luedtke recorded his best collegiate tournament finish, tying for eighth, helping lead Northern Illinois to a tie for fourth place at the COG Mizzou Intercollegiate. The Huskies posted a final round score of 298 to finish the 54-hole event with a total of 887, tied with IUPUI. Host Missouri won the team title for the second consecutive season with a total score of 856, the Tigers' Ryan Zech took individual medalist honors with an eight-under score of 208.

Women's Golf: The Huskies finished seventh at the Falcon Invitational hosted by Bowling Green Friday and Saturday. Allie Parthie moved up seven spots after trimming two strokes off her first round score of 80 to card a 158 and finish in ninth. Senior Kelsie Passolt made the biggest jump, climbing 15 spots to 22nd after posting a second round 80 to finish with a 163.

Men's Tennis: NIU went 1-1 over the weekend in their final home matches of the season. The Huskies stopped Toledo Saturday, 5-2, to move to 3-0 in MAC play. However, the team's unbeaten streak came to an end Sunday when Buffalo topped Northern, 5-2, in Rockford.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies split their two MAC matches for the second straight week. On Friday, NIU was bested by conference-leading Miami (Ohio), 6-1, in Oxford. The team ended their road trip on a positive note, though, with a tight 4-3 win against Ball State.

Six Huskie teams are in action during the upcoming week. The big event in DeKalb this weekend in SpringFest, which takes place Saturday with the Spring Football Game, baseball playing Toledo and women's tennis battling Akron.

Baseball: The Huskies posted a 3-1 record during the week with a quartet of home games. On Tuesday, NIU withstood a late Milwaukee rally to defeat the Panthers, 5-4.In their Mid-American Conference home opener Friday, the Huskies defeated Akron, 10-5. The Zips, though, evened the series with an 8-1 victory on Saturday. Northern's offense awoke on Sunday with 11 hits in an 8-2 win in the rubber match.

Softball: The Huskies opened their home slate Tuesday against in-state foe Illinois State. However, Northern Illinois was dealt a 5-0 loss by the Redbirds. The next day, NIU dropped both games of a doubleheader with Loyola, 10-3 and 9-1. In their conference opening doubleheader on Friday, the Huskies suffered two narrow defeats to Miami (Ohio) with an 8-5 loss in game one and a 7-6 extra innings heartbreaker in the nightcap. NIU grabbed their first MAC win of the season Saturday with a 12-5 throttling of Ball State before falling 11-10 in eight innings on Sunday to the Cardinals.

Track & Field: Northern Illinois broke three school records over the weekend with athletes competing at both the Texas Relays and the adidas Raleigh Relays. In Austin, Texas, the 4x400 relay team of Chanel Kellyman, Rebecca Cronin, Julianne Cronin and Rasheta Butler set the new NIU standard with a 3:46.21 run. In the sprint medley relay later that day, Kellyman, Janay Mitchell, Butler and Rebecca Cronin added their names into the record books at a 3:57.72 clip. Meanwhile, Juliane Totzke broke the 5000 meters record in North Carolina with a 16:57.17 run.

Men's Golf: The Northern Illinois men's golf team concluded play at the Irish Creek Collegiate on Sunday, closing the tournament with a 10th place finish. Junior Kurtis Luedtke was the highest-finishing individual for NIU, tying for 26th with a 54-hole total of 217.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois University women's golf team struggled in its final round, but still finished in the top 10, placing seventh at the 18th Annual Saluki Invitational at Hickory Ridge Golf Course Monday. The Huskies shot a second round 325 to finish the tournament with a 642. The host Salukis of Southern Illinois won the event with a 608. SIU's Cassie Rushing took the individual championship with a 146.

Men's Tennis: Northern Illinois took two non-conference matches over the weekend to improve their record to 17-5. The Huskies earned a solid 5-2 win against Saint Louis on Saturday and edged Bradley, 4-3, to close out the weekend.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies moved back above the .500 mark over the weekend with wins in their final two non-conference matches of the year. NIU handled Valparaiso, 6-1, on Friday and followed that up with a 7-0 sweep of Western Illinois.

Six Huskie teams will compete during the upcoming week. Among the events in DeKalb include baseball hosting Ohio for a three-game set, women's tennis welcoming Toledo and Eastern Michigan, and men's tennis hosting Ball State.

Gymnastics: Northern Illinois earned its highest team scores of the season on both floor exercise and vault en route to a fourth-place finish at the 2012 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center. The result reflected a marked improvement from the Huskies' seventh place finish of a year ago as five different NIU gymnasts in six events earned spots on the awards stand at the conclusion of the meet.

Baseball: Northern Illinois won their home opener Tuesday with an 8-6 victory against the UIC Flames to give sophomore Eli Anderson his first career win. The team opened MAC play at Kent State, but were swept in the three game series. Alex Klonowski notched four hits against the Golden Flashes in a 12-6 Friday loss. Saturday turned into a pitchers' duel, but KSU emerged with a 6-1 win. The Huskies could not prevent the sweep Sunday with a 5-3 loss.

Men's Golf: The Huskies earned a pair of top four finishes in Florida during the week to complete their mid-March Florida trip. at UCF's Rio Pinar Invitational, NIU was led by Blake Emory's final-round 67 to earn fourth place in the 15-team field. Later in the week at the FAU Spring Break Championship, Northern took third place, trailing only Florida State and Ohio State in the team standings.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois University women's golf team sits in third place after posting a strong first round at the 18th Annual Saluki Invitational at Hickory Ridge Golf Course Sunday.The Huskies shot a season-low 317 with junior Allie Parthie leading the way with a four-over-par 76. Parthie is in the top 10 placing sixth after one round of play.

Men's Tennis: Facing the preseason Mid-American Conference favorite Western Michigan, the Northern Illinois men's tennis squad entered unafraid and defeated the Broncos, 5-2. It was the Huskies 11th win all-time versus the Broncos and the first win in at least a decade against WMU.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies dropped their first two Mid-American Conference matches of the season. On Friday, NIU was swept by Western Michigan, 7-0, in Kalamazoo. They returned to the courts Saturday in Bowling Green, Ohio, but were ousted by the Falcons, 7-0.

Seven NIU teams are in action during the week. Among the highlights are softball's home opener Tuesday against Illinois State and ensuing four-game weekend slate, the start of baseball's eight-game homestand and men's and women's tennis' DeKalb openers. 

Wrestling: Huskies Kevin Fanta and Brad Dieckhaus were eliminated Thursday at the NCAA Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. to end the Northern Illinois wrestling team's 2011-12 season. Fanta lost to #9 Nick Dardanes of Minnesota, 12-4, then was eliminated by pin against Iowa State's Luke Goettl. For Dieckhaus, he lost an 8-4 decision to Nathan Schiedel of Binghamton before being forced to forfeit his wrestleback match due to injury.

Gymnastics: Senior Tanya Rachan scored a 9.900 on floor exercise, the top score by a Northern Illinois gymnast on floor since 2005 and the first 9.9 by a Huskie on any event since 2009, to lead NIU at the State of Illinois Classic Saturday in Champaign, Ill. With the score, Rachan tied for first on floor exercise and was named to the 2012 All-State team. Rachan's score led the Huskies to a season-best 49.000 team total on floor exercise, the team's top score on any event all season and a mark the floor squad had targeted since the first meet of the season. Natalie Sutter scored a 9.825 on floor exercise to tie for fifth and freshman Peyton Taylor added a career-high 9.800 to take seventh place.

Baseball: The Huskies went 2-4 during the week. After dropping 7-2 and 4-1 decisions to Saint Louis in midweek play, NIU headed to Carbondale, Ill., to take on Illinois and Southern Illinois. After a 6-4 Friday loss to the Salukis, the Huskies were defeated by the Fighting Illini, 7-2. Northern rebounded with two wins to finish the week. Saturday afternoon, NIU topped SIU, 9-4, then followed that up with a 3-0 shutout of UI on Sunday.

Softball: Northern Illinois went 5-4 in a busy week in Florida. NIU began the week with a Tuesday sweep against Canisius and Florida Gulf Coast, then split their Wednesday pair of games against Iona and Central Florida. At the USF Tournament, the Huskies got off to a quick start by defeating Towson, 7-0, and Bryant, 7-6. The remaining games, though, did not go NIU's way. On Saturday, the Huskies lost 4-1 to North Florida and 5-1 to South Florida. Their week was completed with a 2-0 loss against Boston.

Women's Golf: The Huskies competed in two tournaments during the Spring Break week. On Monday and Tuesday, NIU finished 12th at the Don Benbow Invitational, with Allie Parthie leading the Huskies with a tie for 15th. At the NIU Snowbird, Northern held on to seventh place, while Parthie paced NIU with a fifth place showing.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team got their outdoor season off to a quick start in Saturday with two event titles and two school records at the UCF Black & Gold Challenge. As a team, the Huskies combined for 15 top five finishes and nine personal records in the season-opening competition.

Men's Tennis: The Huskies went a perfect 4-0 in Florida. On Monday, NIU defeated North Carolina Central and Quinnipiac by identical 6-1 scores. They followed that up on Tuesday with a pair of 6-1 wins against Youngstown State and Bucknell.

Women's Tennis: NIU split their two games in Florida during the week. The Huskies defeated Bethune-Cookman, 5-2, to end the Wildcats' 10-match winning streak. The next day, Northern dropped a 6-1 decision to Embry-Riddle.

Six Huskie teams will be in action this upcoming week. Baseball opens their home schedule Tuesday with a game against UIC at 3 p.m., then begin MAC play during the weekend at Kent State. Additionally, men's golf has two tournaments in Florida, while men's and women's tennis open conference play on the road. Women's golf is also in action, as they head to Southern Illinois for the SIU Invitational.

The middle week of October was a successful one for NIU Athletics. The hallmark moment was off the field, though, as the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center Campaign kicked off Saturday before the Huskie football team took on Western Michigan for Homecoming. The 83,500 square foot facility will house a full-size, 120-yard artificial surface football practice field with buffer space surrounding the field on all sides, in addition to a four-lane track, batting cages, and storage cages, among other amenities.

Football: It was a very successful Homecoming for the Huskies, as NIU throttled West Division rival Western Michigan, 51-22. Northern accumulated 697 yards of total offense against the Broncos, including 494 on the ground. In addition, Chandler Harnish became the 11th quarterback in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision history to gain 200 yards rushing and passing in the same game.

Volleyball: Northern Illinois earned their second consecutive 2-0 weekend with two key wins over MAC East foes Akron and Buffalo. On Friday, the Huskies were pushed to five sets against the Zips, but used a commanding fifth set to propel them to a 3-2 win over UA. NIU returned to the court Saturday night against Buffalo, defeating the Bulls in a 3-0 sweep. Sophomore Lauren Wicinski led the Huskie attack with a career-high seven aces.

Men's Soccer: NIU traveled to Northwestern in their lone match of the week Wednesday. Despite solid defense in the first half and some chances on offense, the Wildcats dropped the Huskies at Lakeside Field, 2-0. The loss was the first for NIU against a Big Ten opponent in over two years.

Women's Soccer: It was a heartbreaking two matches for the Huskies, as they were dealt two one-goal losses at home. On Friday, NIU lost to Eastern Michigan, 1-0, on a windy day at the NIU Soccer Complex. The Huskies returned to action Sunday afternoon with a match against defending MAC champion Central Michigan. Despite limiting the Chippewas' offense to only seven shots on goal, Northern still dropped the match, 1-0.

Cross Country: The Huskies wrapped up their 2011 regular season with a 14th place out of 21 teams showing at the Bradley Classic in Peoria, Ill. Courtney Oldenburg led the way for NIU with a time of 22:42.09, which ranks as the 12th best 6K time in NIU history.

Men's Tennis: NIU headed east to Columbus, Ohio, for the ITA Midwest Regionals. In the main draws, Axel Lagerlof advanced to the Round of 32 before falling to 15th-seeded Stephen Hoh of Illinois in straight sets. In doubles, Maksym Bartiuk and Roman Turtygin also advanced to the Round of 32, but fell to Ohio State's 12th-ranked duo of Kevin Metka and Steven Williams, 8-1.

Women's Golf: Northern Illinois could not solve the Hawthornes Golf and Country Club course Monday and Tuesday in Fishers, Ind., as they placed 14th at the MAC Preview. Allie Parthie led NIU tied for 72nd place with a 171-shot performance.

Six Huskie teams will be in action during the upcoming week, including a pair of men's soccer matches at the NIU Soccer Complex Wednesday and Sunday and volleyball hosting Kent State and MAC-leading Ohio at Victor E. Court.

Five Huskie teams were in action during the past week. Among the highlights were Saturday's football win over Kent State and volleyball's two wins in conference play.

Football: Northern Illinois returned to Huskie Stadium Saturday to post a dominating 40-10 victory over Kent State. The Huskie defense only allowed seven rushing yards and 70 yards of total offense on the day, while recording 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks in the rout. Chandler Harnish found the endzone twice and Matthew Sims was a perfect four-for-four on field goals.

Volleyball: The Huskies won both of their matches during the week to improve to 4-2 in MAC play. On Thursday, NIU swept Western Michigan, 3-0, while sophomore Lauren Wicinski became the fastest Huskie to join the 1,000 kill club. Northern doubled Thursday's performance Saturday night by topping Miami (Ohio), 3-0, on NIU Volleyball Alumni Night.

Men's Soccer: The Huskies kicked off a three-game road trip Tuesday when they headed north to face Marquette. After going scoreless in regulation and in the first overtime, Jayson LeSeth launched a shot into the right corner of the MU net to win it for the Huskies, 1-0. NIU then traveled east to face defending NCAA champion Akron, where they fell to the No. 3 Zips, 2-0.

Women's Soccer: Northern Illinois tallied their first MAC win of the season Friday night, when they defeated Buffalo, 1-0. Lauren Eberts scored the lone goal with a marker in the 67th minute. On Sunday, NIU and Kent State combined for five goals in the match. However, KSU's two scores in the final four minutes of play edged them ahead of NIU, 3-2.

Women's Golf: The Huskies closed out their home tournament on Monday by placing seventh in the 12-team field. Allie Parthie paced NIU with a tie for ninth place, while Kelsie Passolt and Katie Kuhn both posted top 30 finishes at the Kishwaukee Country Club.

Northern Illinois' homecoming week will feature seven teams in action, including Saturday's crucial football game against Western Michigan and two home women's soccer matches.

It was an eventful week in Huskie athletics, as six teams were in action during the past week. The main event, of course, was the Soldier Field Showdown II between NIU and No. 7 Wisconsin, where 41,068 people watched the Huskies and Badgers play inside the historic Chicago stadium.

Football: Keyed by 384 yards of total offense from QB Russell Wilson, Wisconsin defeated Northern Illinois, 49-7, at Soldier Field. The Huskie offense, meanwhile, could only manage 237 yards of total offense against the stout UW defense. During the game, Dr. Kenneth and Ellen Chessick made a $3 million gift to Northern Illinois Athletics that will name the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Indoor Facility. The gift is the largest ever made to NIU Athletics and the second largest ever made to the university.

Volleyball: Northern Illinois won their second and third straight matches over the weekend, as they returned to Victor E. Court to face UIC and South Florida. On Friday night, the Huskies doused the in-state rival Flames in a 3-0 sweep, as they outhit UIC .371-.103. On Sunday afternoon, NIU moved to 3-0 against Big East teams with a 3-0 win over the USF Bulls. On the season, eight of NIU's 11 wins have come by sweeps.

Men's Soccer: The No. 13 Huskies went down to the wire twice over the weekend at the Northwestern Lakeside Classic, encountering different results both times. On Friday, NIU was shocked in overtime by Xavier, who used an overtime marker to defeat the Huskies, 2-1. Northern got back on track Sunday afternoon, though, as Gael Rivera's overtime goal sent the Huskies home with a 2-1 win over Cal-Davis.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies turned up the defense in two home matches over the weekend at the NIU Soccer Complex. On Tuesday, NIU outshot Eastern Illinois, 24-7, but was unable to reach the back of the net in a 0-0 tie with the Panthers. NIU would redeem themselves for Sunday's Senior Day festivities with a dominating 2-0 shutout of Loyola to earn their first win of the season.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois women's golf team teed off on their 2011 fall season with two tournaments in neighboring states. On Monday and Tuesday, the Huskies took fourth place at the Green Bay Invitational in Green Bay, Wis., with Katie Kuhn leading all Huskies with a total of 149. The squad returned to action over the weekend at the Cardinal Classic in Munice, Ind. with an eighth place finish.

Men's Tennis: Northern Illinois began their fall schedule over the weekend in River Forest, Ill., at the River Forest Collegiate Invitational. Leading NIU on the courts were Maksym Bartiuk and Axel Lagerlof, who both emerged from singles competition undefeated.

With the men's golf team currently in action in sunny California, six teams will be in action over the next week, including football hosting Cal Poly Saturday afternoon and women's soccer and volley each hosting a pair of matches in DeKalb.

Former Northern Illinois University women's golfer Kim Hunley will be competing in the 17th Phil Kosin Illinois Women's Open at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville this weekend. There's a nice story on Hunley and the event in the Aurora Beacon News today.

Alexandra Wulbecker is having a solid season for the Northern Illinois University softball team. She is batting .344 with 31 hits, including three home runs and six doubles. Wulbecker is third on the team RBIs with 18 and has scored 13runs for the Mid-American Conference West Division leading Huskies (18-19, 8-3). John Leusch of the Daily Herald filed this feature story on the sophomore in yesterday's paper.

Also included in the story, at the bottom of the page is a recap of Michelle Caporusso's performance at the Loyola Invitational last week.

Congratulations to senior women's golfer Kim Bailey, who shot the lowest round of her career, Tuesday at the Ball State Cardinal Classic. Bailey fired a 74, just two-over par and finished the tournament tied for 32nd.