The Lake Superior State women’s basketball team fell to the Northern Michigan by a final scores with a pair of losses 62-46 on Saturday, January 30 and 83-66 on Sunday, January 31 in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in the closing game of a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) weekend series against the Wildcats.
Game Two (Sunday, January 31)
First Half
After neither team scored in the first minute of play, Taylor Bryant evened the score (2-2) with a layup with 8:30 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats offense would then take over the game, scoring 15 consecutive points to take a 17-2 lead over the Lakers by the halfway point of the opening quarter.
Lake Superior State would respond by scoring nine of the last 13 points in the quarter, including a three pointer by Carson Nitz after being set up by Hailey Voelker in the final minute of play. The first quarter ended with the Lakers trailing by 10 points, 21-11.
In the first scoring play of the second quarter, Makenzie Bray netted a three point basket to bring the Lakers within single digits of the Wildcats (21-14). With six minutes left in the first half, sophomore Kelly Olthof made a layup for the Lakers but Northern Michigan’s offense would once again take over the game. The Wildcats scored on six of the game’s next seven scoring plays to build a twenty point lead.
The first half ended with the Lakers trailing, 42-19. Bryant led the Lakers with five points and four rebounds in 13 minutes on the floor in the first half.
Second Half
The third quarter saw lots of offense from both teams with the Lakers scoring 23 points and the Wildcats, 29. The Lakers were led by junior guard Carson Nitz, who scored a team-leading eight points in the quarter. Nitz registered two three pointers and was two-for-two on free throw attempts in the quarter. Freshman Abbey Krugh also added a three pointer in the quarter for the Lakers.
In the final quarter, the Lakers were unable to rally back from the lead that the Wildcats built in the first half and the game ended with the Wildcats winning by a final score of 83-66.
Breaking Down the Game
Nitz led the team with a season-high 17 points in the game as she went 6-for-8 including three-for-five from beyond the arc. Nitz also added two rebounds, 1 assist and three steals for the Lakers.
The Lakers finished the game with a 44.2 shooting percentage, going 23-for-52 against Northern. On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats went 33-for-66 in the game to total a 50.0 shooting percentage. Lake Superior outrebounded Northern Michigan, 34-31, in the game.
Game One (Saturday, January 30)
First Half
After the Wildcats took an early 3-0 lead in the game, sophomore Kelly Olthof got the Lakers on the board with a layup. Northern Michigan would score the game’s next seven points to take a 10-2 lead over the Lakers in the first five minutes of play.
After trailing by 12 points with 2:55 left in the first quarter, the Lakers would respond strong. Freshman guard Jaden Wilder made a three pointer jumper and senior Rebecca Villaneuva would score on three straight free throw attempts to make it a nine point game (19-10). Freshman Jozie Bontrager would net a three point jump shot on the quarter’s final scoring play to cut the Wildcats lead to six points (19-13) heading into the second quarter.
The two GLIAC rivals would match up evenly in the second quarter with each team scoring 12 points in the ten minute span. Makenzie Bray would score on a jump shot in the first minute of the quarter to bring the Lakers within four points of the Wildcats (19-15).
When Northern’s Taya Stevenson recorded a three pointer, Wilder would respond with her second three pointer of the game to keep the Wildcats at bay. With six minutes remaining in the half, Mattison Rayman cut the Lakers deficit to just two points when she secured an offensive rebound and capitalized on a layup (22-20).
With over two minutes to play in the half, Bray netted a three pointer (29-25) and the Wildcats would add the final basket of the half with 2:07 left in the half to end with a 31-25 lead over LSSU.
Second Half
To open the second half, NMU’s Makaylee Kuhn scored a three pointer to give the Wildcats a nine point lead but LSSU’s Hailey Voelker responded with a jump shot to bring the Lakers within seven points (34-27).
With 3:30 left in the third quarter, Bontrager made a layup to make it a five point game (36-31) but the Wildcats would go on a run in the final three minutes as the team scored 10 straight points over the Lakers. Wilder scored a jump shot with :22 seconds left but the Wildcats added a three pointer in the last three seconds to take a 16 point lead into the final quarter (49-33).
In the final ten minutes of the game, the two teams played even with each recording 13 points. The Wildcats would hold off the Lakers in the fourth quarter to register the win by a final score of 62-46.
Breaking Down the Game
Wilder posted a double-digit point total for the third straight game as she finished the game with a team-best 10 points against the Wildcats while playing a team-leading 36 minutes in the game. Wilder also added three rebounds and four assists in the game for the Lakers.
Bray ranked second among her teammates in the game with eight points as well as a team-leading five rebounds.
The Lakers finished the game with a 27.8 shooting percentage, going 15-for-54 against Northern. On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats went 21-for-56 in the game to total a 37.5 shooting percentage. Lake Superior was outrebounded by Northern Michigan, 37-31, in the game.
What’s Next
The Lakers will return to the road next weekend as the team travels to Grand Rapids, Michigan to take on the Davenport Panthers in a two game GLIAC series. The first game is scheduled for Friday, February 5 at 5:00 p.m and the second game is set for a 1:00 p.m tipoff on Saturday, February 6. Both games will be played at the DU Student Center.
