Northern Michigan University’s CJ Romero, left, and Reide Osterman run onto the court during a game against Upper Iowa played in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., on Friday. Osterman is a Baraga High School graduate. (Photo courtesy NMU)

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — The women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University is showing its midseason form, and it’s only two weeks into the season.

The Wildcats tacked on two more wins over the weekend to improve to 5-0 after playing at neutral-site Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. NMU defeated Upper Iowa 95-40 and Lewis (Illinois) 66-54.

Northern comes home to Vandament Arena for a pair of games this week, hosting St. Cloud State (Minnesota) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Minnesota-Duluth at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The Wildcats go back on the road for four games after that, not returning to play a game in Marquette until Wednesday, Dec. 17, to face former GLIAC member Northwood at 5:30 p.m.

Here is information from the past weekend:

NMU 95, Upper Iowa 40

On Friday evening, all 15 Northern players scored and no player saw more than 20 minutes court time, explaining why just two players scored in double figures.

It wasn’t surprising to hear, though, that NMU’s Jacy Weisbrod led all players with 22 points, making six 3-pointers while adding two assists.

Teammate Madison Schroeder was the only other player on either team to also score in double figures, putting in 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor as she also had six rebounds and three steals.

The Wildcats’ Sarah Newcomer and Alyssa Hill added nine points apiece, while Faith Walder had eight.

Hill, a Negaunee High School graduate, also nearly doubled everyone else’s rebound total with 13 and she shared team assist honors with CJ Romero with four apiece.

Ellie Foster paced the Peacocks in their season opener with eight points.

Northern made half their 3-point tries, 12 of 24, and just over half of all their shots, 38 of 75 (50.7%).

NMU Sports Information noted that this was the team’s highest point total since Nov. 16, 2013, when the Wildcats scored 102 vs. Finlandia, and also the largest winning margin since that same game, which ended 102-40.

The Wildcats raced to a 31-11 lead after one quarter, increasing the margin to 59-23 by halftime and also had an edge in scoring in the third and fourth quarters, too.

Schroeder’s jumper with 7:55 left in the opening period gave NMU a 7-0 lead, while a Hill layup 95 seconds later made it a double-digit lead for the first time, 12-2.

Northern ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run for the 20-point advantage after the first 10 minutes. The Wildcats’ biggest lead in the first half was just before halftime, 59-21.

NMU’s lead never fell below 30 points in the third period and never below 40 points in the fourth.

NMU 66, Lewis 54

On Saturday evening, the Wildcats won only two quarters on the scoreboard, but they were big enough differences to offset Lewis’ good start and nifty finish.

Northern trailed 15-13 after one quarter, but clawed back to take a 27-21 lead by halftime, increasing the bulge to 51-32 by the end of the third period.

Newcomer lead NMU scorers with 16 points while Weisbrod had 14, each hitting four 3s. Weisbrod also grabbed five rebounds and Newcomer four.

Hill contributed 13 points, making 6 of 9 shots as she nabbed a game-high eight rebounds and added three assists.

Teammate Addison Pytleski scored eight points.

Lewis’ Jasmine Jones led all scorers with 20 points.

The Wildcats were actually outshot just slightly, 41.8% (23 of 55) to 40.7% (24 of 59), but only committed six turnovers to 11 for the Flyers.

The teams traded the lead throughout the opening 10 minutes, with Lewis emerging with a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Then Pytleski finished off a traditional three-point play 43 seconds into quarter No. 2 to put NMU ahead for good, 16-15, a lead that grew to a half-dozen points by intermission.

The Wildcats opened the third quarter with a 12-1 run to make the bulge 39-22 when Walder made a layup with 6:56 left in the period. The lead got as big as 23 points, 51-28, with 2:20 to go in the quarter on a Jordyn Schmittdiel free throw.

The Flyers whittled their deficit back into single digits, 56-47, with 5:17 left in the fourth, but Northern had enough left to get its lead back to at least 10 points the rest of the way.

NMU 95, Upper Iowa 40

Friday at Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

UPPER IOWA — Foster 3-0-8, Duwe 3-0-7, Lodermeier 3-0-6, Nelson 0-2-2, Privet 1-0-2, McMahon 1-4-6, Foster 2-0-5, Deaton 1-0-3, Retreage 0-1-1. Totals 14-7-40.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Weisbrod 8-0-22, Newcomer 4-0-9, Hill 4-1-9, Pytleski 2-0-6, Romero 1-1-4, Schroeder 5-0-10, Walder 4-0-8, Bates 2-2-7, Whitehouse 2-1-5, Showen 2-0-4, Osterman 1-0-3, Baumgart 1-0-2, Schmittdiel 1-0-2, Marta 1-0-2, Slocum 0-2-2. Totals 38-7-95.

Score by quarters:

Upper Iowa 11 12 9 8 — 40

Northern Michigan 31 28 16 20 — 95

FG shooting: Upper Iowa 14 of 51 (27.5 percent), NMU 38 of 75 (50.7 percent); 3-point shooting: Upper Iowa 5 of 21 (23.8 percent), NMU 12 of 24 (50 percent); FT shooting: Upper Iowa 7 of 8 (87.5 percent), NMU 7 of 13 (53.8 percent); Rebounding, Upper Iowa 25 (Kendyl Lodermeier 5), NMU 53 (Alyssa Hill 13); Assists, Upper Iowa 5 (Sydnee Nelson 2), NMU 18 (Hill and CJ Romero 4 each); Steals, Upper Iowa 3 (3 players with 1 each), NMU 12 (Romero and Madison Schroeder 3 each); Turnovers, Upper Iowa 17, NMU 9.

NMU 66, Lewis 54

Saturday at Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

LEWIS — Jones 9-1-20, Cesarini 7-2-16, Ramage 4-0-10, Bueno 2-0-5, Helm 1-0-3. Totals 23-3-54.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Newcomer 6-0-16, Weisbrod 5-0-14, Hill 6-1-13, Pytleski 2-3-8, Osterman 1-2-5, Walder 2-0-4, Schroeder 2-0-4, Whitehouse 0-1-1, Schmittdiel 0-1-1. Totals 24-8-66.

Score by quarters:

Lewis 15 6 11 22 — 54

Northern Michigan 13 14 24 15 — 66

FG shooting: Lewis 23 of 55 (41.8 percent), NMU 24 of 59 (40.7 percent); 3-point shooting: Lewis 5 of 14 (35.7 percent), NMU 10 of 29 (34.5 percent); FT shooting: Lewis 3 of 10 (30 percent), NMU 8 of 13 (61.5 percent); Rebounding, Lewis 34 (Jasmine Jones 7), NMU 36 (Alyssa Hill 8); Assists, Lewis 6 (Ally Cesarini 3), NMU 13 (Hill and CJ Romero 3 each); Steals, Lewis 3 (Jones 2), NMU 6 (6 players with 1 each); Turnovers, Lewis 11, NMU 6.

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