Northern Michigan University’s Jacy Weisbrod, right, is guarded by Saginaw Valley State’s Lydia Meredith during their GLIAC game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 18. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Senior standout guard Jacy Weisbrod of the women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University has earned a preseason honor from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

She was voted by the league’s coaches to the Preseason GLIAC First Team that is headed up by GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year Nicole Kamin of Grand Valley, who is a 2021 graduate of Escanaba High School.

Weisbrod is regarded as one of the league’s premier perimeter scoring threats after last spring earning GLIAC First Team, along with All-Midwest Region Second Team from the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association.

She led the Wildcats in scoring with 13.4 points per game and led the entire conference in 3-point shooting with 2.86 made per contest, also ranking her sixth nationally in NCAA Division II. And she was second in GLIAC 3-point shooting accuracy, making them at a 39.6% clip.

Weisbrod scored at least 23 points seven times and really caught fire with her shooting late in the season, making a total of 14 triples over back-to-back games against Purdue Northwest and Saginaw Valley State.

She was a major reason that NMU tied its best win total since 2000-01 at 23-9 overall, also rolling up a 15-5 GLIAC record. Northern advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, also winning a game in the tourney for the second consecutive time.

Starting her fourth year at NMU, head coach Casey Thousand led her team to the No. 2 seed in the conference tourney as she now holds a 60-32 overall record, a .652 winning percentage, and guiding Northern to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in over two decades.

Weisbrod leads a veteran-laden roster that finished second only to eventual national champion Grand Valley State, which won its final 13 games last spring — the final four of the regular season, three more in the GLIAC Tournament and another six in the NCAA tourney, culminating in a 70-58 win over Cal State-Dominguez Hills in the national championship game on March 28 in Pittsburgh.

Kamin, who will be a fifth-year senior guard this season, only scored at a 9.2 ppg clip, but added 4.8 rebounds per game while making team highs of 101 steals and 91 assists.

For NMU, the veterans include Weisbrod’s fellow senior guard Sarah Newcomer, who made the GLIAC Second Team last spring. She started all 32 games last year, averaging 8.9 ppg, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists and was second on the team with 61 triples.

Other returnees expected to be key contributors are Alyssa Hill, a Negaunee High School graduate who transferred from Bemidji State a year ago, CJ Romero and Sydney Whitehouse.

Joining Weisbrod and Kamin on the Preseason GLIAC First Team are Kadyn Blanchard of Ferris State, MacKenzie Bisballe of Grand Valley and Cassidy Arni of Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Preseason Second Team is Kendall Standfest of Michigan Tech, Paige VanStee of GVSU, Megan McCalla of Saginaw Valley State, Mia Riley of Ferris and Taylor Thompson of Wayne State.

The Wildcats open their season at the CCA Tip-Off Classic from Friday through Sunday, Nov. 7-9, in Erie and nearby Edinboro, Pennsylvania.

NMU plays three teams from the home state — California University at 5 p.m. on Nov. 7, former GLIAC member Gannon at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8, and Edinboro at 4 p.m. on Nov. 9.

After two more road games the following week, Northern comes back to Marquette for its home opener at Vandament Arena at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, to face St. Cloud State (Minnesota).

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