# 2016–17 Northern Illinois Huskies women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Northern Illinois Huskies women's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by second-year head coach Lisa Carlsen, played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 12–6 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the West division. They defeated Ohio and Western Michigan in the MAC tournament before losing to Toledo in the championship. They received an at-large bid to the WNIT where they lost in the first round to South Dakota State.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2015–16 season 11–19, 4–14 in MAC play to finished in last place in the West division. They lost to Western Michigan in the first round of the MAC tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 5, 2016* 1:00 pm | | Lakeland College | W 111–49 | | Convocation Center (288) DeKalb, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2016* 5:00 pm | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 90–70 | 1–0 | Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| Nov 16, 2016* 5:30 pm | | Milwaukee | W 114–104 $^{2OT}$ | 2–0 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 19, 2016* 4:30 pm | | at Western Illinois | L 79–83 | 2–1 | Western Hall (562) Macomb, IL |
| Nov 22, 2016* 7:00 pm | | Chicago State | W 94–85 | 3–1 | Convocation Center (276) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 26, 2016* 6:00 pm | | Illinois State | W 108–65 | 4–1 | Convocation Center (1,398) DeKalb, IL |
| Nov 30, 2016* 7:00 pm | | at Drake | L 86–95 | 4–2 | Knapp Center (2,016) Des Moines, IA |
| Dec 2, 2016* 7:00 pm | | at Bradley | W 81–51 | 5–2 | Renaissance Coliseum (661) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 11, 2016* 2:00 pm | | at Iowa State | L 89–97 | 5–3 | Hilton Coliseum (9,825) Ames, IA |
| Dec 16, 2016* 7:00 pm | | SIU Edwardsville | W 97–78 | 6–3 | Convocation Center (304) DeKalb, IL |
| Dec 19, 2016* 5:30 pm | | vs. South Dakota UMKC Classic | L 83–97 | 6–4 | Swinney Recreation Center (220) Kansas City, MO |
| Dec 20, 2016* 3:30 pm | | at UMKC UMKC Classic | W 86–75 | 7–4 | Swinney Recreation Center (200) Kansas City, MO |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | W 85–73 | 8–4 (1–0) | Convocation Center (1,086) DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 4, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 89–76 | 9–4 (2–0) | Stroh Center (1,216) Bowling Green, OH |
| Jan 7, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Ohio | W 88–80 | 10–4 (3–0) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 11, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kent State | W 98–97 | 11–4 (4–0) | M.A.C. Center (240) Kent, OH |
| Jan 14, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Toledo | W 77–73 | 12–4 (5–0) | Savage Arena (3,758) Toledo, OH |
| Jan 18, 2017 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | Akron | W 84–55 | 12–5 (5–1) | Convocation Center (1,279) DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 21, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 89–76 | 13–5 (6–1) | Convocation Center (2,168) DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 25, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Kent State | W 93–72 | 14–5 (7–1) | Convocation Center (507) DeKalb, IL |
| Jan 28, 2017 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | W 101–96 | 15–5 (8–1) | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| Feb 4, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | W 67–62 | 16–5 (9–1) | Convocation Center (2,543) DeKalb, IL |
| Feb 8, 2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Central Michigan | L 94–104 | 16–6 (9–2) | Convocation Center (503) DeKalb, IL |
| Feb 11, 2017 1:00 pm | | at Buffalo | W 89–80 | 17–6 (10–2) | Alumni Arena (1,532) Buffalo, NY |
| Feb 15, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Miami (OH) | W 63–61 | 18–6 (11–2) | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| Feb 18, 2017 1:00 pm | | Ball State | L 84–92 | 18–7 (11–3) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Feb 22, 2017 6:00 pm | | at Central Michigan | L 86–109 | 18–8 (11–4) | McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Feb 25, 2017 1:30 pm | | at Eastern Michigan | W 81–71 | 19–8 (12–4) | Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI |
| Mar 1, 2017 7:00 pm | | Toledo | L 75–79 | 19–9 (12–5) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Mar 4, 2017 2:00 pm | | at Western Michigan | L 77–90 | 19–10 (12–6) | University Arena Kalamazoo, MI |
| MAC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2017 1:20 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Ohio Quarterfinals | W 72–71 | 20–10 | Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH |
| Mar 9, 2017 10:00 am | (4) | vs. (8) Western Michigan Semifinals | W 83–55 | 21–10 | Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH |
| Mar 11, 2017 10:00 am, CBSSN | (4) | vs. (6) Toledo Championship | L 71–82 | 21–11 | Quicken Loans Arena (1,589) Cleveland, OH |
| WNIT ||||||
| Mar 16, 2017 7:00 pm | | at South Dakota State First round | L 84–94 | 21–12 | Frost Arena (2,610) Brookings, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||