This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE---Northern Michigan University Women's Basketball defeated Purdue University Northwest 76-38 to start Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at 3-0.  The Wildcats are off to their best start since the 2013-14 season while the 38 points are the fewest allowed since the 2016-17 season.

Senior Darby Youngstrom (Cook, Minn.) paced the offense with 16 points, hitting three three-pointers.  Junior Jessica Schultz (Mineral Point, Wis.) added 13 points.  The pair both finished 6-7 from the field.
 

Freshman Emily Mueller (Fond du Lac, Wis.) posted eight points while junior Erin Honkala (Howell, Mich.) and sophomore Amber Huebner(Marquette, Mich.) both had seven points. Honkala had a team-best 11 rebounds with Mueller chipping in with 7.  Junior CeCe Rapp (St. Charles, Ill.) grabbed eight rebounds.
 

Senior Sydney Dillinger (Houghton, Mich.) dished out five assists for a season-high.

Defensively, NMU held the Pride to just 22.4% shooting on the night.  At the half, PNW was shooting 16% and just 8% from the three-point line.

The 38 points is the second time in a week that the NMU defense has allowed less than 40 points.  It is also the fewest points allowed since the 2016-17 season in a 55-38 victory over Lake Superior State University.

Sophomore Lexi Smith (St. Germain, Wis.) hit two free throws early to give NMU a lead. Youngstrom soon added a three to make it 5-0 at the 8:19 mark. After a three from PNW, Youngstrom converted a three-point play and then hit her second three to make it 11-3 just three minutes into the game.
 

At the four-minute mark, Honkala made a layup followed by a three-pointer from Schultz and the score was 16-3 with 3:15 to play.  The Pride made two free throws, but Schultz responded with a layup, and made another layup to answer a PNW jumper.

At the end of the quarter, Youngstrom made her third three of the day and made the score 23-7 after the first quarter.

Schultz opened the second quarter with a layup followed by a layup and jumper from Smith and the score was 29-7 less than two minutes into the quarter.  The Pride made a free throw, which Honkala followed with her own free throw.  The guests then hit a jumper but senior Taylor Hodell (Wausau, Wis.) answered with two layups to move the score to 34-10 with six minutes left in the half.
 

Huebner continued the rally with a make behind the arc before PNW sank two free throws with three minutes to go in the half.  Senior Tess Weatherly (Howell, Mich.) followed with a three before PNW made a layup with a minute left to close the first half with NMU leading 40-14.

Mueller and Schultz started the second half with layups and Mueller added a free throw while Schultz made another layup to make the score 47-14 with 8:30 to go in the quarter.  The Pride scored their first basket, but Youngstrom responded with jumper and a layup and pushed the lead to 51-16 until 3:03 on the clock when Honkala added two jumpers.  PNW scored two more baskets, but Rapp added a score and the score was 57-20 at the start of the fourth quarter.
 

The teams stayed even for the fourth quarter as NMU cruised to a 76-38 victory.

The Wildcats improve to 8-2 on the season and 3-0 in the GLIAC and are off to their best start to a season since the 2013-14 team started the year 11-2.

The Pride fall to 2-6 on the year and 0-3 in the GLIAC.  NMU returns to action Saturday afternoon and will host University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 1 p.m. in the Berry Events Center, hosted by Peoples State Bank of Munising.