The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team started this week with an 81-66 GLIAC victory over Grand Valley State University Thursday, Jan. 16 in Berry Events Center.

Assistant coach Kristen Rogers said NMU played strong to come out with the victory.

“We came out and played with a lot of energy and toughness on both ends of the floor,” Rogers said. “We moved the ball great on offense and our shooters stepped up and made big shots all night.”

Junior guard Alyssa Colla led the Wildcat offense with 25 points to reach her career high. Colla also had six assists.

Junior guard Lauren Gruber scored 19 points. Freshman guard Bre Gaspervich led the Wildcats defensively with five rebounds, while also adding 18 points to the board, another career high.

The ’Cats had a field goal percentage of 54.0 and went 80 percent on the free-throw line. The team shot 57.7 percent from the three-point line. NMU also beat GVSU defensively, out-rebounding them 34-29.

Gruber said the game against GVSU was a great game.

“I felt that our team came to play with a high energy level,” Gruber said. “We were able to get a fairly large lead from the start of the game and then maintain that level of play for the whole game. It was a great game all around and a great win for us.”

The Wildcats continued their weekend at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 at Berry Events Center, where they faced Ferris State University. The GLIAC matchup was the Wildcats’ first home loss of the season. Ferris State won 69-61.

Colla led the Wildcats and set a new career-high for scoring, with 27 points.

Gruber helped set up the offense with five assists and seven points. Defensively, junior forward Abbey DeBruin led NMU with nine rebounds and sophomore forward Nea Makela pulled down another eight.

The Wildcats tallied 43 rebounds while Ferris had 27. Offensively, the Bulldogs shot 51.2 percent on field goals while NMU shot 35.9 percent. The Bulldogs were able to claim 20 points off NMU’s 18 turnovers.

Rogers said the ’Cats put up a strong fight in the second half.

“Ferris decided that they were going to force us to beat them from the three-point line,” Rogers said. “We started playing with more urgency and put together a good run late in the second half, but it came a little too late.”

Ferris guard Sarah DeShone led the Bulldog offense with 17 points. On the defensive side, forward/center April Watson pulled down seven rebounds for the Bulldogs and guard Dena Droste captured another five.

Gruber said the Wildcats played hard against Ferris State.

“Playing hard doesn’t always win the game,” Gruber said. “Ferris has a really talented and experienced guard, Sarah DeShone, and a strong post presence with Christina Branch. Knowing these two players, we knew that to win the game we needed to get all of the loose balls and really control the boards. Unfortunately, Ferris came up with a few more plays than we did.”

The split weekend leaves the Wildcats at 11-3 overall and 8-2 in the GLIAC. The Wildcats will continue next week with two away games.

NMU plays at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23 at Saginaw Valley and finishes the week with a match at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 at Wayne State.

“It’s always disappointing to lose at home, but we are all motivated to get back on the court,” Gruber said. “From here, we’re preparing to move forward. Every game in the GLIAC is going to be a battle. We have two important road games this week and we are now getting ready for those.”