Shooting woes cost Lady Cats vs. LSSU
Courtesy of NMU Athletics
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team dropped a 70-57 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference matchup to Lake Superior State Thursday at the Berry Events Center.
The loss drops NMU to 11-6 overall with an 8-5 league record. The Lakers improved to 5-15 overall with a 5-8 record in league play.
Junior guard Alyssa Colla led the Wildcats with 23 points followed by sophomore forward Nea Makela with 12 and senior forward Annie Rubendunst with 11.
NMU trailed 23-22 at the break. Makela led all scorers with 10 first-half points connecting on 3-7 from the floor and 2-6 from three-point range. Kandace Crittendon led the Lakers with eight first-half points.
The Wildcats shot 30.4 percent (7-23) from the floor in the first half and held Lake Superior State to 41.7 percent (10-24).
NMU tied the game twice early in the second half, when Rubendunst connected on a free throw in the first minute of action and again when Colla got a layup with 18:24 left in the game. Lake Superior retook the lead for the final time on a layup from Alexandra Morrow with 18:04 to go.
The Wildcats finished the game shooting 30.2 percent from the floor connecting on 16-53 of their attempts. LSSU shot 44 percent from the floor hitting 22-50.
Laura Vanes picked up a double-double to lead Lake Superior State with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Crittendon also had 10 for the Lakers. Lake Superior outrebounded NMU 39-33 and outscored the Wildcats 22-20 in the paint.
“You can’t lose that game at home, that’s going to haunt us for the rest of the year. It’s disappointing to see that we play our last two games at home against teams we should beat and can’t make a shot,” said NMU head coach Troy Mattson. “We will find out how tough we are, we are going to play one of the best team going right now in Northwood. They have the most energy and the most toughness, they have really good guards and they are playing with a lot of energy right now.”
NMU returns to action at 11 a.m. Saturday hosting Northwood at the Berry Events Center.