WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. - The Northern Michigan women's basketball team needed extra time in its first game of the season, but emerged victorious 48-46 over the Thomas More Saints to start 1-0.
Tied 42-42 after four quarters, NMU got the first four points of extra time and didn't trail after. The Saints appeared to tie the game as the final horn sounded in overtime, but review deemed the shot was late, leading to the Wildcat victory.
Jacy Weisbrod led the way with 11 points and added eight rebounds while
Alyssa Hill chipped in 10 points to go along with nine boards. All ten 'Cats that played scored, including three freshmen recording their first collegiate points (
Madison Schroeder,
Sydney Whitehouse, and
Addison Pytleski).
The Wildcats struggled shooting the ball, going just 17-61 (27.9%) while the Saints didn't fare much better, converting on 19-63 (30.2%). NMU held a 48-44 edge on the glass and recorded nine blocks, led by four from freshman
Madison Schroeder.
Sarah Newcomer got the game started with a nifty Euro Step layup off of the opening tip and Weisbrod followed shortly after for a quick 5-0 advantage. The Saints scored the next five to tie. NMU trailed 10-6 with just under four minutes left in the quarter and would flip the script, going on a 15-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to lead 21-10. The Wildcat defense held Thomas More on a scoreless stretch of nearly 10 minutes in which they were an empty 0-14.
The Green and Gold led 24-16 at intermission, with each side shooting sub-30% in the second quarter. NMU dominated the glass in the first, 29-18.
Leading 29-18 in the third, NMU would hit a cold spell of their own. On a nearly identical 10-minute stretch that went into the next quarter, the Wildcats were without a field goal while going 0-13 in that stretch. The run for the Saints was 15-1 to lead 33-30 with seven minutes to play.
NMU went to the paint to end the run, getting three straight layups from Schroeder and Hill (x2). The Saints scored the next five to regain the lead 38-36 with less than three minutes left, but a key triple from Weisbrod with less than a minute to play evened the score at 40's ahead of going to extra time at 42-42.
Hill scored the first four in overtime and a Newcomer jumper with 90 seconds left proved to be all NMU needed in a defensively-dominated affair.
Up Next
The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow in Wisconsin Dells, taking on the Lewis Flyers at 6 p.m. at the Justagame Fieldhouse. The Flyers defeated Michigan Tech 68-57 earlier on Friday.
