North Michigan News

In the second round of the Women's Basketball NCAA Tournament, the Ashland Eagles defeated Northern Michigan University (NMU) with a score of 68-45. This result ended NMU's season with a record of 23-9.

Northern Michigan only held the lead for a brief 29 seconds in the game, at a 3-2 margin during the opening minute. The Wildcats struggled against Ashland's defense, which is ranked as the second-best in the nation. They scored a season-low of 45 points and shot 31.4% from the field.

Senior Mackenzie Holzwart led NMU with nine points, while Sarah Newcomer also contributed nine points to their effort.

Despite this loss, NMU had another notable season under Coach Thousand, improving their win total and record each year over three seasons and reaching the Round of 32 in consecutive years.

Ashland will face off against either Grand Valley or Wayne State on Monday for the regional championship.

During the game, Sarah Newcomer briefly gave NMU a lead with a stepback three-pointer. However, Ashland responded quickly with a 9-0 run and maintained control throughout most of the game. Alyssa Hill added some late shots in the first quarter but Ashland led by seven after ten minutes.

Alyssa Nimz opened scoring in the second quarter for NMU but Ashland continued to dominate, leading by twelve at halftime. Zoe Miller was particularly effective for Ashland with twelve points in the first half.

The third quarter saw both teams struggle to score initially until Zoe Miller hit another three-pointer for Ashland. Although Weisbrod and Newcomer tried to keep NMU competitive, Ashland maintained their double-digit lead throughout much of this period.

Entering into the fourth quarter, Ashland extended their lead further by scoring seven unanswered points early on. Ultimately, Northern Michigan could not recover as Ashland secured their spot in Sweet 16.