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Youngstrom sets pace as Wildcat women roar

Northern Michigan University’s Elizabeth Lutz gets around the defense of Purdue’s Molly DeValkenaere for a short jump shot in the third quarter. (Photo courtesy of Daryl T. Jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — Darby Youngstrom set the tempo early for the Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team on Thursday night.

The Wildcats’ senior guard scored 16 points going 6 of 7 from the field and hitting 3 of 4 from 3-point range, all three of those in the first quarter, as NMU cruised by Purdue Northwest 76-38 at the Berry Events Center.

With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 8-2 on the season with a 3-0 mark in GLIAC play.

NMU head coach Troy Mattson said Youngstrom’s strong start combined with a tight defense, which held the Pride to 14 points in the first half, was the key to the blowout win.

“They (the Pride) come out in the zone defense, which bothered us last year and Darby knocked some big three’s in to get us going and it kind of just blossomed from there,” he said. “We’ve been working really hard on studying our defense and trying to make it better and I think it’s really starting to take shape.

“I’m feeling more comfortable, especially with our main players of what we’re trying to do defensively. We held them to 14 points at halftime. It was big for Darby to get us going early and get them out of the zone defense. She shot the ball extremely well tonight.”

Despite the 8-2 record with a strong start to conference play, Mattson is taking it one game at a time.

“We don’t even know we’re 3-0 and we’re just worried about the next game against (Wisconsin) Parkside,” he said. “The girls can relax a little bit and I’ll start worrying about Parkside right now. Our record means nothing to us right now. We need to play well again on Saturday.”

Youngstrom was happy to lead her team to victory, and agreed with the concept of one game at a time.

“It feels good to get a win, especially at home,” she said. “In the GLIAC, there’s so many good teams. Every night everyone comes out and plays their best game, so we kind of take the mentality of one step at a time. We’ll enjoy (tonight), but tomorrow, we’re back to work.”

The Wildcats got on the board with two free throws from sophomore guard Lexi Smith before Youngstrom hit her first triple of the night to put the Wildcats up 5-0.

After PNW got on the board on a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Danielle Nennig, Youngstrom was fouled on a 2-point jumper and proceeded to make the free throw putting the Wildcats up 8-3.

On the next NMU possession, Youngstrom hit her second triple of the night making it 11-3.

Later in the first, junior forward Jessica Schultz chipped in with a 3-ball of her own to make it 16-3 Wildcats before the Pride finally ended the NMU run on two successful free throws on Nennig.

Schultz made consecutive buckets after that, and Youngstrom hit one final 3-pointer right before the buzzer to put the Wildcats up 23-7 after one.

Defensively, the Wildcats held PNW to just seven more points in the second quarter, and 4 of 25 from the field in the half. NMU took a 40-14 lead into the locker room.

Not much changed after the first half with the Wildcats putting up 36 more points to roll to the victory. NMU shot 27 of 63 from the field and went 9 of 29 from 3-point range. The Wildcats were also 13 of 17 at the free throw line.

Youngstrom finished with 16 points, two assists and four rebounds. Schultz had 13 points, one assist and three rebounds. Freshman forward Emily Mueller added eight points, while junior forward Erin Honkala and Marquette Redettes alum Amber Huebner added seven apiece.

Freshman center Brittany Barnard led PNW with nine points, while Nennig added seven and junior guard Bayley Goodman added six. The Pride shot 13 of 58 for the game, 5 of 27 from 3-point range and 7 of 10 from the charity stripe.

NMU hosts Parkside (3-4, 2-1 GLIAC) Saturday at 1 p.m.

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