The storm should be over for the Bowling Green women’s basketball team.

They got through a treacherous January that saw them play five opponents picked to finish ahead of them in the Mid-American Conference standings.

Luckily for the Falcons, the season isn’t decided in the preseason. BG won five of their seven games and came out of January smelling like a rose.

“If you told me we could skip January and have a 5-2 record I’d be ecstatic,” BG head coach Curt Miller said.

Even better for BG is the fact that they’ve had a week off heading into tonight’s game against Northern Illinois (6-12, 3-4).

And with a tired team that hasn’t been able to have an off night all season, that was just what the doctor ordered.

The team even got an added weekend bonus according to Miller.

“I put myself on the road recruiting,” he said. “So they didn’t have to look at me for a few days.”

All jokes aside, the Falcons (12-6, 5-2) are hosting a team tonight that last year beat them in four overtimes at Anderson Arena and has had BG’s number, winning 12 of the two teams’ 22 meetings in their history.

“They’re a good team defensively,” Miller said. “And we’re coming off a game where we struggled to score so this is going to be a big test for us.”

NIU will be led into the game by guard Stephanie Raymond. The sophomore is one of the MAC’s top scorers, averaging 15.7 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per contest and a league-leading 4.1 assists per contest.

She will lead a deep team onto the court that has seven other players that play at least 12 minutes per game.

The Huskies have more than enough fire power to give the MAC’s top team fits throughout the game.

For BG, the key is to not let the Huskies give them headaches like they did in last year’s epic battle. And it is even more important for them to beat everyone, including Northern, at home.

“You have to win a large percentage of games at home,” Miller said. “We feel that Anderson Arena is a tough place to play and we have to back that up.”

For BG, this game is no battle of I-75, but it is important if the Falcons want to be a serious contender for the MAC crown at the end of the season.

“It’s not going to be the end of the world if we lose,” Miller said. “But if you’re talking championships it’s imperative that you win games at home.”

Tip off for the game is slated for later today at 7 p.m. at Anderson Arena.