The Northern women’s team has 30 games on its schedule, the same as the men, with 13 home games at its arena that was expanded about a year ago, Vandament Arena.

Competition will be played in six states and even an exhibition game is set with an NCAA Division I opponent, though not listed currently on its schedule at nmuwildcats.com. That’s according to an NMU Sports Information news release about the schedule announced last week.

Led by fourth-year head coach Casey Thousand, Northern is coming off one of its best seasons ever, finishing 23-9 overall and 15-5 in the GLIAC, good for second place in the conference. And while losing their conference tournament semifinal game vs. Ferris State, the Wildcats still attracted a bid to the NCAA Division II tourney, where they knocked off former league member Hillsdale 61-55 before falling to one of the country’s top teams, another ex-GLIAC member Ashland, 68-45.

This year’s NMU team begins with three games in three days from Nov. 7-9, mysteriously only listed as “TBA” for the opponents and game times, with the location of the games in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Northern Michigan University’s Sydney Whitehouse, left, drives to the basket while defended by Saginaw Valley State’s Ava Locklear in the first quarter of their GLIAC Tournament women’s basketball quarterfinal round game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

A Google search came up with the Erie Sports Commission announcing, at eriesportscommission.com, that it will partner with former GLIAC member Gannon University and also Edinboro University for the 2025 Conference Commissioners Association Women’s Division 2 Tip-Off Classic to be held at those two universities’ courts in and around the northwestern Pennsylvania city from Nov. 7-9.

Being an Erie-based website, it only said that Gannon and Edinboro would be among the eight teams playing in it for a total of a dozen games during those three days.

Apparently, this CCA tournament moves from year to year, since Gannon has “participated in the last two tournaments in Canada and Montana,” according to the Erie website.

After the Wildcats open their season in Erie, the following weekend they head to another neutral site they’re a bit more familiar with, the Justagame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, for a pair of games on back-to-back days.

It’s a place they’ve played the past two seasons and have won all three games played there. This year, the opposition will be Upper Iowa at 6 p.m. EDT on Friday, Nov. 14, and Lewis University at 6 p.m. EDT the following day.

About a week after that, and just about a week before Thanksgiving, NMU plays its first home games, hosting St. Cloud State of Minnesota at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, and Minnesota-Duluth at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.

Northern follows it up with two more road games against the same opponent just after Turkey Day, at Minnesota-Crookston at 1 p.m. EDT on both Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 29-30.

Then comes the GLIAC season, which matches the men’s campaign, as the women’s games are the opening contest in each doubleheader.

It begins in Kenosha, Wisconsin, against Wisconsin-Parkside on Dec. 4 and in Chicago vs. Roosevelt on Dec. 6.

One final nonconference game follows, also a doubleheader with the NMU men, a 5:30 p.m. home game for the women on Wednesday, Dec. 17, against former league member Northwood.

That’s the last game before the Christmas holidays, though the Wildcats have an unusual New Year’s Day contest, hosting Davenport at 5:30 p.m. in a GLIAC game that day before hosting Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3.

About a week later, Northern makes its annual trip to Houghton to face its chief Upper Peninsula rival, Michigan Tech, at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, a game expected to be televised by WLUC-TV6 or Fox-U.P.

Then comes a home game against Ferris State on Monday, Jan. 12.

After that, the schedule of all-GLIAC games falls into a regular rhythm, with games on Thursday and Saturday each week through the end of the regular season as February wraps up.

It begins right after the Ferris game on Jan. 15 in Sault Ste. Marie against Lake Superior State and Jan. 17 in University Center vs. Saginaw Valley State.

Then follows home games against Purdue Northwest at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 and at 1 p.m. on Jan. 24 vs. Wayne State.

The Wildcats end January with a road trip downstate, playing in Allendale vs. Grand Valley State on Jan. 29 and in Grand Rapids vs. Davenport on Jan. 31.

The home-and-away weeks continue yo-yoing with a pair of home games at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 against SVSU and at 1 p.m. on Feb. 7 vs. LSSU.

The road beckons again with games in Detroit vs. Wayne State on Feb. 12 and in Hammond, Indiana, vs. Purdue NW on Feb. 14.

The second-to-last week changes things up just a bit, with the return game vs. MTU at home at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 19, and then a road game in Big Rapids against Ferris on Feb. 21. The second Tech game should also be on the WLUC-TV6 or Fox-U.P. docket.

The final week of the regular season keeps the Wildcats at Vandament Arena, hosting Roosevelt at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 and entertaining Parkside at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28.

If it continues to follow the long tradition of the GLIAC Tournament, the top four seeds will host the next four seeds in the quarterfinals the following Wednesday, March 4, with the highest surviving seed hosting the semifinals and finals the next weekend.

The entire schedule is listed on the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the team’s schedule. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.