Northern Michigan University’s Jacy Weisbrod, left, sinks one of her 3-pointers during a GLIAC Tournament women’s basketball quarterfinal round game played against Saginaw Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)
Seeded No. 2 entering the GLIAC Tournament, the Wildcats face No. 3 Ferris State at 4:30 p.m. today in the event’s semifinal round being played in downstate Allendale.
The winner then advances to the 3 p.m. Sunday championship game, where NMU would go up against the No. 2 team in the country, along with tourney No. 1 seed and semifinals and finals host Grand Valley State.
Or if not the Lakers, Northern would face the team that would’ve knocked off GVSU in today’s early semifinal game, No. 4 seed Wayne State.
Either way, that would be a daunting task.
However, the Wildcats (22-7 overall) might gain some confidence for that challenge if they can put together another good game against Ferris (20-10).
NMU has already dominated this team that finished just two games behind them — Northern was 15-5 in GLIAC games and Ferris was 13-7. The Wildcats posted a 78-48 win in Big Rapids on Jan. 23, then pulled off an almost identical 75-48 victory in Marquette on Feb. 15.
Whether the third time is a charm or if the adage that beating any team three times in one season is quite difficult will come to fruition today.
Today’s — and the Wildcats hope Sunday’s — game is available online to watch at FloHoops, while it will also be carried on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point. Sunday’s game might be on a sister radio station as the GLIAC men’s final that Northern could also be involved in will overlap with the women’s.
Fans can also follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during games, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s basketball schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics, game previews and series histories.
After a bit of a dip between mid-December and mid-January when NMU lost five of eight, the Wildcats have won four in a row and 11 of their last 13, all conference regular-season and conference tournament games, too.
Their most recent win was Wednesday evening during the height of the blizzard in Marquette in the GLIAC Tournament opening-round quarterfinals, an 81-60 thumping of No. 7 seed Saginaw Valley State.
Junior Jacy Weisbrod has returned to her accustomed position as Northern’s leading scorer and the GLIAC’s top 3-point shooter. On Wednesday, she finished with a game-high 27 points, making seven triples for the second game in a row. On this night, she was a sizzling 7 of 9 on 3s and has made 70% of those long-range shots the past two contests (14 of 20).
In NMU’s recent four-game win streak, they’re averaging 80.3 points per game after having only reached 80 points in a game three times before that.
Northern is ranked No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll, trailing only Grand Valley and former GLIAC member Ashland. In three seasons under head coach Casey Thousand, the Wildcats have improved each year as she has a .663 winning percentage at 59-30.
Last year, NMU was in an almost identical situation in the tourney, facing Ferris in the semis and winning 63-56, then going up against Grand Valley and losing the championship game 67-48.
Northern went on to not only qualify for the NCAA tournament, but win its first game with a 69-56 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan before bowing out to GVSU once again, 72-44.
The Wildcats are the No. 2 team in the conference in rebounding margin at plus-5.7 per game, which is also in the top 50 nationally, and their 29.3 defensive rebounds per game is 18th in the country.
Weisbrod has led the league and still does in 3s made per game at exactly three, while her conference leading percentage still stands second at 40.5%. Nationally, she’s third in made 3s and 16th in percentage. Overall in scoring, she’s eighth in the GLIAC at 14.1 ppg.
Abi Fraaza at 9.2 ppg, Sarah Newcomer at 9.1 ppg and Alyssa Nimz at 8.3 ppg are NMU’s next three scorers, as Fraaza has averages over her last three games of 15.0 ppg, 6.8 rebounds and 74.2% overall shooting from the field.
Off the bench, teammate Sydney Whitehouse has averaged 10.3 ppg over her last four contests, scoring in double figures in six of her last seven games.
Ferris, like all four combatants in the GLIAC tourney semifinals, won at home in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The Bulldogs downed No. 6 Roosevelt 67-58.
Averaging 76.1 ppg, FSU is led by Mia Riley at 14.6 ppg, Mya Hiram at 13.2 ppg and Kenzie Bowers at 10.9 ppg. Elle Irwin runs the point, averaging 3.1 assists a game and leads the GLIAC with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
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