North Michigan News

For the first time in 25 years, the Northern Michigan University (NMU) women's basketball team has achieved a 7-0 record. The Wildcats secured this milestone by defeating Purdue Northwest Pride with a score of 70-48, marking the start of their Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Thursday.

Despite a snow day at Northern Michigan University, the Wildcats maintained control for most of the game, leading by as much as 26 points. They recorded a season-high of 22 assists on 26 made field goals.

The Wildcats shot 38.8% from the field while restricting the Pride to just 14 made field goals and holding them to a shooting percentage of 26.4% from the floor and 23.1% from beyond the arc. NMU also led in rebounds with a count of 49-35 and had an advantage on offensive rebounds with a margin of 13-5.

The team's performance was balanced, with all ten players who played over ten minutes recording at least four shots each, without any player attempting more than ten shots. Alyssa Hill tied her season-high with 13 points for NMU, followed by Jacy Weisbrod who scored 11 points. Seven other players scored at least five points each. Sarah Newcomer led in assists with five, while Alyssa Nimz topped in rebounds with seven.

The game began with Purdue Northwest making its first two shots and taking an early lead at 4-2. However, after both teams went scoreless for over two minutes, Addison Pytleski hit a three-pointer to break NMU's streak of missed shots. Following this momentum shift, NMU took advantage as Purdue Northwest missed eight consecutive shots after their initial lead.

By halftime, NMU had extended their lead to twenty points thanks to contributions from multiple players and capitalizing on twelve turnovers committed by Purdue Northwest in the first half alone.

Early in the second half saw back-to-back layups from Hill that gave NMU its largest lead of the night at twenty-six points. Despite being outscored in the final quarter by Purdue Northwest (13-9), Northern's significant lead ensured their victory remained secure.

Next up for NMU is another home game against Parkside on Saturday as they aim to extend their unbeaten run further into GLIAC play.