The Northern Michigan women’s basketball team lost to Grand Valley State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Semifinals on Saturday, with a final score of 66-38. The game took place in Allendale, Michigan.
Northern Michigan, ranked No. 21, held several leads during the first quarter but trailed 16-15 going into the second. By halftime, they were still within reach at 31-24. However, Grand Valley State, ranked No. 2, outscored Northern Michigan 35-14 in the second half and advanced to the conference title game.
Northern Michigan struggled offensively, shooting just 26.7% from the field and making only three of their twenty-four three-point attempts. Grand Valley State shot 43.1% and led in rebounds and points in the paint.
Alyssa Hill led Northern Michigan with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sarah Newcomer added ten points for the Wildcats. MacKenzie Bisballe from Grand Valley scored a game-high nineteen points.
The Wildcats will now wait to see if they receive an NCAA Tournament bid when selections are announced on NCAA.com on Sunday, March 8 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Sarah Newcomer started the scoring for Northern Michigan with a three-pointer before Grand Valley responded with six straight points to take an early lead. NMU briefly regained control but ended the first quarter down by one point.
In the second quarter, Addison Pytleski hit another three-pointer as NMU continued to compete closely before falling behind by seven at halftime. Alyssa Hill contributed significantly in the first half with twelve points and nine rebounds.
Grand Valley State extended its lead during the third quarter by scoring nine of eleven points early on and finished outscoring NMU by twelve in that period. The Lakers eventually built their advantage to over twenty points in the fourth quarter.
Northern Michigan scored only fourteen points after halftime while being outscored by thirty-five to fourteen in that span.
The Wildcats participate in college athletics as part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (official website). The team is based in Marquette, Michigan (official website). In previous years, they have won Horizon League tournament titles and secured automatic entries into the NCAA Tournament (official website).
