ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan women's basketball team made it to the GLIAC Championship for the first time in five seasons, but fell to host Grand Valley State 67-48 on Sunday afternoon. Makaylee Kuhn was named to the All-Tournament Team following the game. 

Rebounding played a big role in the contest as the Lakers pulled down 42 to NMU's 23. With eight more offensive rebounds, GVSU led in second chance points 15-2. 

The Wildcats never led in the game but hung around throughout much of it. Trailing 15-5 early, Northern scored eight straight to close the game to two, but the Lakers hit a timely three before the first quarter closed, which seemed to become a theme on the afternoon. NMU trailed 18-13 after one. 

The Lakers built up a 14-point cushion in the second quarter, but the Green and Gold kept the game within reach as Jacy Weisbrod continued to do what she does best, knocking down triples with three in the first half. The 'Cats trailed 40-29 at intermission. 

Back-to-back layups out of halftime from Ana Rhude closed the deficit to seven, but the Lakers put together a 12-2 run and the Wildcats did not connect from the field in the final six minutes of the third quarter, trailing 54-37 after three. 

The Lakers would lead by as many as 22 in the fourth and comfortably held on to win their second consecutive conference tournament title. They were led by the GLIAC Player of the Year Rylie Bisballe as she scored 16 points and added on 10 rebounds. 

Northern's Ana Rhude led the way for the 'Cats with 13 points. She also blocked three shots to become NMU's all-time blocks leader, now with 139. Weisbrod and Makaylee Kuhn also found double figures with 11 points each. 


Up Next
The Wildcats will await their NCAA Tournament fate with the NCAA Selection Show taking place at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 10th on NCAA.com.