BIG RAPIDS -- Courtesy: NMU
The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team fell short to Ferris State University 47-46 on Saturday (Jan. 12) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition. With the loss, Northern falls to 8-6 overall and 5-5 in conference play, while Ferris improves to 9-4 and 8-2 to continue to lead the Northern Division.
NMU was the first on the boards with a made layup by Courtney Lemon in the opening seconds of play. The Bulldogs answered back with a made three pointer by Sarah DeShone, to set the pace of how the rest of the game would go: five changes between the two teams just in the first six minutes of play. The ‘Cats took the lead for good for the first half with 14:26 to go, leading by three points, and went in to the break with a 23-15 lead.
The second half remained scoreless until 17:45 to go on a made jumper by the Bulldogs DeShone. Lauren Gruber turned around with a three pointer seconds later to put the game at 26-17. The ‘Cats remained in the lead by as many as nine until 8:15 to go when the Bulldogs tied the game at 35, and then took the 36-35 lead.
In the last six minutes of play, there were two lead changes and a tied score three separate times. Ferris took the lead for good with two minutes to go, with the 44-42 advantage. The Bulldogs went up 47-44 with 17 seconds remaining, Lemon attempted a three pointer to tie the game, but the shot was no good. Gruber made a layup at the buzzer to cut the deficit and final score to one point.
Alyssa Colla, Gruber, Lemon and Sarah Miller each had 10 points for the Green and Gold. Miller’s game was a career-high with two made shots from beyond the arc and two field goals. Gruber led the boards with seven, while Anna Liewen and Lemon each added six.
The ‘Cats committed 15 turnovers to the Bulldogs 14, but out-rebounded Ferris 36-32. Northern shot 18-for-52 while Ferris was 15-for-45. From the charity stripe, Northern was 2-for-4 and the Bulldogs were 15-for-20.
Kara Hess and Katie Mavis led all scorers with 12 points, and Hess led the boards with 10.
The ‘Cats will return home on Thursday (Jan. 17) as they face Saginaw Valley State at 7:30 p.m. from the Berry Events Center.
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