Eastern Wayne Today

The Wayne State University women's basketball team secured a narrow victory against Northern Michigan University, finishing 61-60 at Vandament Arena. This win brings Wayne State's record to 9-6 overall and 4-3 in the GLIAC conference, while Northern Michigan now stands at 11-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

The game was tightly contested, with seven ties and twelve lead changes. Wayne State managed to score the final points in each quarter, including the decisive basket.

In the first quarter, Wayne State's Mackenzie Miller hit a three-pointer to give her team an 11-9 lead after several ties and lead changes. McKenna Ferguson contributed four early points for Wayne State, followed by another four from Shea Tripp.

During the second quarter, Northern Michigan tied the game before taking a brief lead. However, Ferguson responded with a three-pointer that gave Wayne State its last lead of the first half at 18-17. Despite this effort, Northern Michigan ended the half leading 26-22.

Both teams struggled with shooting accuracy in the first half; NMU shot 30 percent from the field while WSU managed only 29 percent.

The third quarter saw continued back-and-forth scoring until Gabi Lutchka's three-pointer put Wayne State ahead again. The Wildcats quickly regained momentum but were met by persistent efforts from WSU players like Taylor Thompson and Tripp. Alyssa Leister's buzzer-beater layup closed out another close period.

In the final quarter, Northern Michigan gained its largest lead of eight points early on. However, consistent scoring by Thompson and strategic plays like Jaci Tubergen’s late-game triple allowed Wayne State to edge out their opponents as NMU failed to score a field goal in the last minutes.

Statistically, both teams shot similarly from the field but differed significantly in free throw performance where WSU excelled with an 80 percent success rate compared to NMU’s perfect yet fewer attempts. Notably, WSU capitalized on turnovers more effectively than their opponents.

McKenna Ferguson led Wayne State with near double-double figures of 17 points and nine rebounds along with four steals. Taylor Thompson added twelve points while Gabi Lutchka provided ten off-the-bench contributions.

Sarah Newcomer stood out for Northern Michigan as their sole player reaching double digits in scoring at fourteen points including four successful three-pointers.

This victory marks an end to NMU's home winning streak which had lasted since February last year when they lost against Grand Valley State University in overtime—a streak that included defeating WSU during GLIAC Quarterfinals previously held on March sixth last year.

Wayne State will continue its road games facing Michigan Tech next Saturday noon concluding their Upper Peninsula trip this season."