Weisbrod, Nimz, Fraaza combine for 40 points
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Northern Michigan women’s basketball team made a statement across the GLIAC on Thursday night at Jim Wink Arena, leading from start to finish in a dominant 78-48 win at Ferris State.
In a gym the Green and Gold have not won in since the 2018-19 season, NMU went in and thoroughly controlled the game from wire-to-wire. NMU won each quarter, led by as many as 38, and secured its first 30+ point win in the GLIAC in the last five years. It was also just the fourth time NMU triumphed over FSU by at least 30 points in the all-time series dating back to 1975.
The Wildcats shot over 50% for the first time this season, going 28-55 (50.9%) from the field. Along with that, NMU was 11-25 (44.0%) from beyond the arc, the third-best percentage this season, and 11-13 (84.6%) at the charity stripe, the second-best performance to date. Jacy Weisbrod led the way with 14 points, Alyssa Nimz and Abi Fraaza each added 13, and Alyssa Hill and Sarah Newcomer each accounted for nine. Each of the five shot over 50% from the floor. In total, nine ‘Cats found the scoring column.
Northern dominated the glass 40-29 and allowed Ferris to only 16 defensive rebounds and 29 total, both opponent season lows. Nimz and Alyssa Hill each pulled down eight rebounds to anchor the post. The ‘Cats also collected 21 assists from nine players, one off of their season high.
NMU got on the board first with a tip-in from Hill, and the extra hustle play was the perfect tone-setter for how the rest of the night would play out. Weisbord entered off the bench and immediately connected from three and a Sydney Whitehouse triple soon after pushed the lead to double digits at 17-6 with 4:07 to play in the first.
From there, the gap would not get back to single digits the rest of the way. The ‘Cats led 23-10 after 10 minutes, with seven scoring and the Green and Gold holding a 16-5 rebounding edge. NMU shot 50% while the Bulldogs were 0-7 from three.
The first seven points in the second from the visitors quickly propelled the lead to 20 at 30-10 and it would continue to build, extending to 35-10 as the run capped at 12-0 on another Weisbrod triple.
The Bulldogs didn’t score until the back half of the second quarter and shot only 1-13 (7.7%) in the second as the Wildcats outscored the home team 14-4 in the frame and led 37-14 at the break. NMU notched five unanswered runs of five points or greater and the Bulldogs were 0-12 from three, shooting just 6-30 (20.0%) overall in the half. Weisbrod (11) and Nimz (10) each found double figures while NMU’s bench outscored FSU’s 16-0.
Ferris scored the first four points out of halftime, but Newcomer and Mackenzie Holzwart hit back-to-back threes to push the lead back to 25 at 43-18. NMU used another 10-0 run late in the third to lead 57-26 and would hold a 59-32 advantage heading to the final frame. The Wildcats had their best shooting quarter in the third, going 8-13 (61.5%).
Another 10-0 run to start the fourth pushed the lead to 69-32 and NMU would lead by as many as 38 at 76-38 with 4:47 to play.
The Wildcats scratched closer to the Bulldogs in the GLIAC standings with the win, as NMU now sits at 6-2 in the league, one game back of Ferris at 7-2. Overall, Northern improved to 12-5 while Ferris fell to 13-5.
Throughout the game, NMU had eight runs in the game of five straight points or more, with three of those hitting 10+. The Bulldogs had just four, with two of those coming in the final minutes of play.
Up Next
Northern will head north over the Mighty Mac to take on the Lake Superior State Lakers on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Sault Ste. Marie. The Lakers are coming off of a 101-52 defeat to Michigan Tech.
