Women’s Basketball Falls in First Round GLIAC Game

Courtesy: NMU

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball saw their season come to an end this evening in a 61-45 loss to Davenport in the first round of the 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Panthers struck early, starting the game with a 6-0 run. The Wildcats were able to cut the lead to one after a three-point basket from Kayla Tierney, but could not sustain it as they ended the quarter down 11 points.

A Makaylee Kuhn layup and a made free throw gave NMU an old-fashioned three-point play with 33 seconds left in the first half. The Kuhn baskets cut the lead to just six, but it soon went back up to nine with a three for Davenport.

The Wildcats made a push in the third to take control. A deep three for Tierney, assisted on a beautiful pass from Elizabeth Lutz, kickstarted the NMU team to a 7-0 run with 8:28 left in the quarter.

A Kuhn layup with two seconds left in the third cut the Panthers’ lead to 38-34.

An 8-0 run carried over from the end of the third into the final quarter for the Wildcats. An Elena Alaix three at the end of the run gave NMU its first lead of the game. A three from Davenport got put the Panthers back on top but a Samantha Potter layup, with an assist from Kuhn, put the Wildcats back up 42-41.

Unfortunately, NMU would not be able to take the lead back for the rest of the contest. Davenport took home the 61-45 victory.

Tierney was the top scorer for the Wildcats. The freshman scored a career-high 17 points in the loss on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from three.

Alaix grabbed the most boards of any NMU player with 10. She also led the team in blocks (2) and tied Kuhn for the most steals (2).

As a team, the Wildcats had the advantage in total rebounds with a margin of 33-29. They also shared the ball well to a tune of 10 assists.

NMU ends the season with an overall record of 10-9 and a GLIAC record of 10-8.