MARQUETTE, Mich. – Northern Michigan women's basketball head coach Casey Thousand has announced the schedule for the 2026-27 season, which will feature a challenging non-conference slate and 13 home games. 

Entering her fifth season at the helm, Thousand and the Wildcats will look to build on another successful campaign in 2025-26. Northern Michigan finished the season with a 25-8 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.

The Wildcats will open the regular season with the Midwest Tip-Off Challenge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, beginning Oct. 30 against Central Missouri. NMU will continue the weekend with matchups against Truman State on Halloween and Minnesota State Mankato on Nov. 1.

Northern will return to Wisconsin Dells the following weekend for two more non-conference contests, facing Lewis on Nov. 13 and Upper Iowa on Nov. 14.

The Wildcats will then travel to Minnesota for a pair of road games, taking on St. Cloud State on Nov. 20 before facing Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 21. Northern will close out November with a matchup against Winona State on Nov. 28 back in Wisconsin Dells.

December begins with road contests at GLIAC opponents Roosevelt (Dec. 3) and Parkside (Dec. 5). The Wildcats will dip back into non-conference play with trips to Ashland on Dec. 17 and Northwood on Dec. 19 before returning to GLIAC play and closing the calendar year against Davenport on Dec. 31.

Conference competition resumes in the new year with a road matchup at Ferris State on Jan. 2. The Wildcats will host their first games at Vandament Arena on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9, welcoming Michigan Tech and Wayne State.

Northern will continue its home stretch with games against Lake Superior State on Jan. 14 and Saginaw Valley State on Jan. 16 before heading on the road to face Purdue Northwest and Grand Valley State on Jan. 21 and Jan. 23. 

The Wildcats return home for a pair of games against Ferris State and Davenport on Jan. 28 and Jan. 30. February begins with road trips to Saginaw Valley State (Feb. 4) and Lake Superior State (Feb. 6) before NMU hosts Grand Valley State and Purdue Northwest on Feb. 11 and Feb. 13.

The regular-season schedule continues with road games at Michigan Tech (Feb. 18) and Wayne State (Feb. 22) before the Wildcats close the regular season with two straight home contests. Northern will welcome Parkside on Feb. 25 and Roosevelt on Feb. 27 to Vandament Arena.

The GLIAC Tournament will begin March 3, with the semifinals scheduled for March 6 and the championship game set for March 7.

The full 2026-27 schedule can be found here.