UNIVERSITY CENTER - Northern Michigan University's women's basketball team fell to host and GLIAC foe Saginaw Valley State 81-77 in overtime Thursday night.
With 34 ticks left on the clock in regulation, SVSU's Emily Wendling made a layup and sank a free throw to send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, the Cardinals opened with a jumper by Wendling and went up by five (77-72) before NMU got on the board.
Freshman forward Nea Makela made a 2-pointer and a free throw with 3:16 remaining to cut the deficit to 77-75, but the Cardinals controlled the remainder of the scoring, going 4-for-6 from the free throw line in the final three minutes.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 11-11 overall and 8-10 in the conference, while SVSU improves to 11-11 and 9-9, respectively.
The Wildcats had two players earn a career-high and a double-double for the game. Makela led the Wildcats with a career-high 22 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds.
Freshman guard Anna Liewen also earned a career-high in points with 15 and rebounds with 10.
Alyssa Colla finished the game with 20 points for NMU, while Abbey DeBruin tallied 10.
NMU out-rebounded the Cardinals 43-39, and shot 39.9 percent (29-for-73) from the floor.
Northern also shot 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) from the free throw line.
For SVSU, Wendling led all scorers with 25 points and Katelyn Carriere finished with 18. Wendling completed the night with a double-double after pulling down 11 rebounds.
Northern will next play at 3 p.m. Saturday against Wayne State in Detroit.