NMU's Colla lifts Lady 'Cats to 1 point win
Courtesy of NMU Athletics
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team opened Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Thursday (Nov. 29) with a victory over Walsh University. The ‘Cats slid past the Cavaliers with the 58-57 advantage for a 4-1 overall record and 1-0 in the conference.
Walsh (1-1; 0-1 GLIAC) opened up the game by scoring the first eight points, before NMU got on the board on a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Lauren Gruber with 15 minutes to go in the half. Walsh led the entire half except for NMU tied the game and led once during the half. However, the Cavaliers took the 25-24 lead at halftime.
To start the second half, NMU scored the first six points on two shots from behind the arch by sophomores Courtney Lemon and Maria Almquist to take a five point lead (30-25). The ‘Cats hung onto the lead until 11:13 to go in the game when Walsh took a three point advantage, from there, there were four different lead changes until the last two minutes of play.
At the 1:29 mark, Gruber tied the game at 56 on a three-point jumper. With 14 seconds remaining, Walsh’s Tara Gallupe went to the free throw line to shoot two, and made the second shot, putting the Cavaliers up 57-56. The ‘Cats controlled the ball for the next ten seconds, until sophomore guard Alyssa Colla made a jump shot with four seconds on the clock to take the lead and the win.
The only Wildcat to earn double digits was Colla with 10 points on four field goals and went 2-of-3 from the free throw line. Gruber and Almquist each added nine, while sophomore forward Abbey DeBruin tallied eight off the bench. Gruber led the boards with seven, all on defense, and Lemon added six. The ‘Cats shot 22-of-48 for the night, and were 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. As a team, NMU finished with 38 rebounds and 24 turnovers.
Maggie Berry led Walsh with 16 points on two three-point shots, four field goals and went 2-of-4 from the free throw line. Gallupe (13) and Lydia Corle (10) rounded out the double figures for the Cavaliers. Whitney Dabbelt and Berry led in rebounds with six each. Walsh finished the night shooting 22-of-50 and was 8-of-13 from the free throw line. The Cavaliers committed 13 turnovers and earned 19 total rebounds.
NMU will continue playing in Ohio on Saturday (Dec. 1), as the ‘Cats tip-off against Malone University at 3 p.m.