After claiming a 66-42 victory over Ferris State and being edged by Grand Valley 56-53, the Women’s Basketball team closed out a 5-game homestand with an 11-point victory over rival Michigan Tech Monday at the Berry Events Center. Although the team went 4-1 in their last five games, head coach Troy Mattson was slightly disappointed by the loss to Grand Valley and added that the contest could have easily ended in a Wildcat victory.
“It was a heartbreaker on Saturday, leading [Grand Valley] with less than 10 seconds to go,” Mattson said. “I thought the girls responded really well against Michigan Tech and played a really great defensive game. And defensive rebounding we were at the top of our game.”
The ’Cats totalled 27 defensive rebounds while Tech chalked up 18. Northern kept the Huskies off the board for the first five minutes of play and built an 8-0 advantage which would grow into a 17-6 advantage as the Wildcats closed out the first quarter.
The Huskies went into the second frame on the right foot and outscored the ’Cats 18-9, chipping away at their lead and went into the locker room with a 2-point deficit, the score 26-24.
Layups from sophomore guards Sydney Dillinger, Darby Youngstrom and freshman forward Jessica Schultz strengthened the Wildcats’ grip on their lead in the third quarter. Freshman forward Erin Honkala would cap off NMU scoring with a layup in the last 30 seconds of the frame. Four free throws from Michigan Tech’s Lindsay Winter in the last seconds of the third cut the lead to 42-35.
The ladies kicked off the fourth quarter with a 5-2 run. Michigan Tech managed to claw back into a 4-point striking distance at the 4:09 mark of the final frame the score at 52-48. Northern Michigan managed to never give up the lead and closed out the contest with 14 free throws.
Senior guard Bre Gaspervich paced the Wildcats with 20 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter, following Youngstrom who totalled 15 points.
After the homestand, the team now stands sixth in the GLIAC with the conference record of 9-5. While the team has found success on their own turf, the team is currently 2-5 for away games as they prepare for two road games against teams the Wildcats beat in their recent homestand, Lake Superior State and Northwood University.
Despite past losses on the road, Mattson is confident that the team will carry their winning momentum into this weekend.
“I think we will play well on the road. We know what we are doing out there on the defensive end and the rebounding effort has been really good,” Mattson said. “If we continue to do those things we are going to give ourselves an opportunity to win these games.”
Youngstrom said that she hopes to see defensive plays, such as steals or defensive rebounds, to lead to more offensive opportunities. She added that the offensive end of the team is evolving but it is imperative that they continue to excel in the defensive zone.
“We have to be the road warriors out there and try to bring our A-game because they now have home-court advantage so they are going to be coming after us especially since we beat them once already,” Youngstrom said.
