Story, photo courtesy of NMU Sports Information. Click the thumbnails to hear RRN's Casey Ford interview Coach Casey Thousand.
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan women's basketball team advanced to the GLIAC Semifinals with a 74-66 victory over the Michigan Tech Huskies on Wednesday evening at Vandament Arena.
Trailing 23-15 in the second quarter, NMU closed the half with a 20-5 run over four minutes to lead 35-28 at the break. The Huskies pulled within one twice in the third, but NMU closed with the last eight to lead 54-43 going to the fourth. Again, Tech threatened and closed the gap to 65-63 with 90 seconds left, but NMU answered the bell with 9 of the final 12 points to advance.
Sydney Whitehouse led the way with a career-high 25 points, connecting on 7-9 field goal attempts and a perfect 8-8 at the charity stripe. Jacy Weisbrod followed with 17, and Sarah Newcomer added 16. Tech's Ella Mason led all scorers with 30 points, 26 of those coming in the second half.
The Wildcats dominated the glass 40-21, with Alyssa Hill's 11 rebounds leading the charge. NMU pulled down 11 offensive rebounds to MTU's three, leading to an 11-6 second-chance points edge.
At 25-6, the Wildcats will move on and travel to No. 1 seed Grand Valley State on Saturday, March 7. GVSU handled Lake Superior State 89-45 in the quarterfinal round.
