Lady ‘Cats need help to make postseason
Courtesy of NMU Athletics
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball teams ends the regular season of play on Saturday (March 2) at Michigan Technological University. The two teams will tip-off at 3 p.m. in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.
NMU is 13-12 overall and 10-11 in conference play. The Wildcats snapped its four-game losing streak over the weekend, by sweeping its final two home games. NMU defeated Lake Superior State University, 64-53 on Thursday (Feb. 21), and won 71-56 over Northwood University on Saturday (Feb. 23).
With a win, the ‘Cats qualify for the GLIAC Tournament. There is still a chance for them to get in with a loss but they would need to rely on other teams to help them out.
Sophomore forward Brooke Coenen finished Thursday’s game with a career-high 13 points with three field goals and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Nine players entered the scoring column for the Wildcats in the game.
Sophomore guards Alyssa Colla (13.3) and Lauren Gruber (11.6) lead the Wildcats in points per game. Freshman forward Nea Makela has the highest rebound average at 6.2 per game.
MTU sits in second place in the GLIAC North with an 18-7 overall and 16-5 conference mark. The Huskies also swept its weekend at home against LSSU and Northwood. MTU defeated the Timberwolves, 70-57 Thursday evening and dominated the Lakers on Saturday with a 57-38 win.
Sam Hoyt averages the most points for the Huskies, with 16.5. Jillian Ritchie leads rebounding at 5.4 and Emma Veach grabs 5.3 boards. Veach leads the conference in three-point percentages at 50.8 percent.
Northern holds the all-time series record at 48-37. The last win for NMU in Houghton was during the 2009-10 season. The two teams faced each other on Feb. 2 in Marquette, where NMU pulled the upset with a 69-60 victory.
In the game, the Huskies led from the start until the final minutes of play. Ritchie sank two free throws to tie the game for the last time with 6:08 left on the clock. Colla clinched the win by going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 50 seconds.
100.3 FM “The Point”, the official radio voice of the NMU Wildcats, will broadcast the game.