SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Cold shooting hurt the Northern Michigan University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Lake Superior State. NMU shot 9-28 in both the first and second halves for 32.1 percent. For the game the Wildcats were 18-56 (32.1 percent). NMU lost the game to the Lakers by a score of 63-48.

NMU enters the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament with a record of 14-13 overall and 9-13 in conference play. The 'Cats face Michigan Tech Tuesday night (March 3). The Lakers are currently 16-14 overall and 9-13 in GLIAC play.

For the first six minutes or so of the game the 'Cats kept it close. NMU had a lead of 4-3 on a Kelsey Deacon jumper and a 9-7 advantage after a three-point play by Angie Leckson. The Lakers had a four-point lead at 11:49 before Kellie Rietveld made one of her two free throws for a 13-10 game. A three-pointer by Brynn Larsen had the game down to a 16-14 score at 8:49. Christa Erickson had the 'Cats to within one at 18-17 with 8:13 left in the half. With a little over five minutes to play in the half the Lakers had a nine-point lead (29-20) and went into double-digits (33-23) with a little over a minute to play. Lake Superior State ended the half with a 35-26 lead.

The second half was all Lakers. Lake Superior State open the second 20 minutes of play with an 8-2 run (43-28). Steffani Stoeger's jumper at 10:18 had the 'Cats to within six points (45-39), but that was as close as the team would get for the afternoon. 

Deacon was the lone 'Cat with 10 or more points for the game. She has a team-high 13 points in the loss. Erickson led NMU off the glass with six rebounds. Jaclyn Armstrong led the Lakers with 19 points.

NMU was 8-26 from three-point range (30.8 percent.   Deacon led NMU with three three-pointers. The 'Cats made half of its free throw by going 4-8. The Lakers outrebounded the 'Cats by a margin of 43-31.