North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University women's basketball team delivered a decisive victory over the Davenport Panthers, finishing with an 80-41 scoreline. The Wildcats maintained control throughout the game, establishing a lead that reached up to 40 points. In their previous encounter with the Panthers, NMU had struggled from beyond the arc, but this time they improved significantly, shooting 10-25 (40.0%) from three-point range and 31-66 (47.0%) overall.

All twelve players on the Wildcats' roster contributed to the scoring effort. Jacy Weisbrod led with 15 points, all scored in the first half and mostly in the second quarter. Sarah Newcomer added twelve points and hit four three-pointers. Ava Bates made her mark with seven points, including her first career three-pointer during just four minutes of play.

The Wildcats dominated particularly in the second quarter, outscoring Davenport 22-7. They achieved three separate double-digit scoring runs during the match, including two 12-0 stretches in both the second and third quarters.

Davenport faced challenges offensively, hitting only 12-49 (24.5%) from the field and struggling at long range with a 1-14 (7.1%) performance from three-point territory—both season-low marks against NMU's defense.

Rebounding was another area where NMU excelled, grabbing 49 rebounds compared to Davenport's 24—a +25 advantage. Ten Wildcats collected at least three rebounds each; Alyssa Nimz, Mackenzie Holzwart, Alyssa Hill, and Abi Fraaza each secured six boards.

On defense, Kayla Tierney stood out with five steals as part of a collective effort that forced sixteen turnovers from Davenport while capitalizing for twenty points off those turnovers. NMU also held advantages of doubling Davenport in points in the paint (32-16) and significantly outperforming them in bench points (46-7).

With this victory, Northern Michigan improved their record to 14-6 overall and 8-4 within their conference standings (GLIAC). Conversely, Davenport's record dropped to 4-16 overall and 2-10 in league play.

Next on their schedule is an away game against Saginaw Valley State Cardinals scheduled for Thursday, February 6th.