The Wildcat women’s basketball team will travel to Grand Valley State to face the Lakers at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14 and then will travel to Ferris State University to face the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16.

The Wildcats went 3-5 during the holiday break, with their three wins coming against Tiffin, Ohio Dominican and Lake Erie.

Leading the `Cats was junior guard Bre Gaspervich, who averaged 10 points per game the past month. Freshman center Taylor Hodell averaged seven rebounds for the Wildcats during the eight games.

In the Wildcats’ win against the Lake Erie Storm on Saturday, Jan. 9, Gaspervich led the ’Cats with a double double, recording 12 points and 13 rebounds.

“I feel like we got a lot better as a team,” Gaspervich said. “The team is so young, so it is going to take a little longer for the defense and offense to really come together.”

Against the Tiffin Dragons, redshirt freshman guard Chloe Tompkins was one of four Wildcats to score in double figures, which helped the team in the
victory.

The Grand Valley State Lakers are 10-4 this season with a conference record of 5-3.

Leading the Lakers is Kayla Dawson, who is averaging 16 points per game this season. The leading rebounder for the Lakers is Korynn Hincka with 5.2 rebounds per game. This season, Grand Valley State is averaging 76.4 points per game and holding their opponents to 57.3 points per game.

The Wildcats are holding opponents to 37.3 field goal percentage during conference play, while the Lakers are making 43.8% of their shots this season.

NMU currently sits 10th out of 16 teams in the GLIAC with a 4-4 conference record, tied with Hillsdale College and Northwood University for the eighth and final GLIAC playoff picture.

Last season, the Lakers swept the Wildcats in the two games they faced each other.

The Lakers won at the Berry Events Center 68-61 and won at Grand Valley State’s Fieldhouse Arena 74-52.

The Ferris State Bulldogs are 3-11 this season and have a conference record of 3-5.

Bulldog senior forward Alexis Huntey leads the team with 14.2 points per game.

Huntey also leads the team in rebounds with 10.8 per game. Sophomore forward Rachel McInerney is averaging 13.4 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game this season for the Bulldogs.

When the Bulldogs and Wildcats played each other last season, the Wildcats won both games. The Wildcats won at the Berry Events Center 67-52 and won at Ferris State’s Jim Wink Arena 79-74 in overtime.

The Wildcats’ are currently tied for 8th place in the GLIAC conference standings with Hillsdale and Northwood.

Ferris State is right behind the Wildcats in the standings so the Wildcats game against the Bulldogs will either put the Wildcats higher lower in the conference standings.

“I think the season is going really well, and hopefully it continues to keep getting better as we start north division play later this week,” Gaspervich said.