Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University women's basketball team is set to begin its 2024-25 season at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Tip-Off. The event will take place at the Justagame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The Wildcats will face Thomas More on Friday, November 8, followed by a game against Lewis on Saturday, November 9. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and can be heard on 94.9 The Bay with Casey Ford providing commentary.

Head coach Casey Thousand shared her thoughts ahead of the season: "We're gelling together and we're still learning at the same time. It's fun and exciting to have that first road trip, for everyone to come together and hang out and have that team time. We are going to play differently without her [Makaylee Kuhn], and it's going to be a little different with what we're doing, but we have good people back who did a lot of scoring for us last year too."

Under Thousand's leadership over two seasons, NMU has achieved a record of 37-23 (.617), including a successful run last season where they reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. This season marks Jordan Sweeney's second year alongside Thousand as Associate Head Coach.

The Wildcats' roster includes 17 players this year, facing challenges such as replacing Makaylee Kuhn, their all-time leading scorer, and Ana Rhude from their lineup. Jacy Weisbrod is expected to lead in scoring after an impressive performance last season.

Thomas More enters the tournament following an 18-11 record last season and has been projected to finish sixth in their conference preseason poll. Lewis returns after being picked as favorites in their conference following a strong performance last year.

NMU's games will also mark the debut of Vandament Arena as their new home venue after recent renovations.