ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Northern Michigan University women's basketball team closed out non-conference play on Wednesday (Nov. 27) in St. Paul, Minn. The Wildcats were defeated, 75-60 by No. 14-ranked Concordia-St. Paul at the Gangelhoff Center. NMU is now 3-1 on the season, while Concordia is 5-2.

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the game on a three pointer by junior forward Abbey DeBruin. NMU led one other time, 5-4, in the half before the Golden Bears took the lead for good. Concordia's largest lead of the half was by 15 with just over a minute left in the opening 20 minutes. Junior guard Alyssa Colla cut the Wildcat deficit to 12 (43-31) going into the break.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Wildcats scored five consecutive points to cut Concordia's lead to just eight (45-37), putting the game back within reach. The five points consisted of layups by DeBruin and junior guard Lauren Gruber, along with an added free throw by Gruber.

However, on the Golden Bears' next possession, a three pointer by Rachel Hansen gave Concordia their double digit lead back. Concordia proceeded to go on an 8-0 run to give them a 19 point advantage, and lead by 15 or more points for the remainder of the game.

The Wildcats were led by Colla and DeBruin, each tallying 11 points. Sophomore guard Anna Liewen controlled the boards with 10 total rebounds, eight on defense and two on offense. NMU out-rebounded the Golden Bears, 49-36 on the night.

Four players entered the scoring column in double digits for Concordia: Hansen (21), Anika Whiting (18), Carissa Wolyniec (12) and Amanda Barton (11). Concordia's lead rebounder was Wolyneic with eight total.

NMU opens up Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with two games at the Berry Events Center next week. Walsh comes to town on Thursday (Dec. 5) and Malone visits on Saturday (Dec. 7).

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