The still undefeated Wildcats, now 6-0, fell into a 15-point hole during the third quarter before mounting a furious comeback culminated by Jacy Weisbrod’s third of her five 3-pointers with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter that knotted the score 63-63.

Weisbrod had another pair of those long-range shots left in her quiver during overtime to power NMU to the victory.

Northern almost won the game at the end of regulation, with Sarah Newcomer taking a neat pass for a backdoor layup that was ruled just a fraction of a second too late to count, advancing the game to OT.

Weisbrod shared game-scoring honors with St. Cloud’s Alana Zarneke as each scored 22 points. But while Zarneke made just 1 of 6 treys, Weisbrod was good on 5 of 11 there, adding in a game-high four steals while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

Northern Michigan University’s Alyssa Hill, left, goes up for a shot and would score over St. Cloud State’s Paige Lambe during their game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Thursday. Hill is a graduate of Negaunee High School. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Newcomer added 16 points for Northern as she also hit five 3s and tacked on a game-high five assists to go with three rebounds.

Teammate Addison Pytleski scored 10 points, hitting a triple and making 3 of 4 free throws while also getting three rebounds and two steals.

In fact, all 10 Wildcat players who got in the game had a rebound, with nine of them scoring and seven making at least one steal.

NMU, which was to play Minnesota-Duluth late Friday afternoon back at Vandament, made 15 steals that helped force the Huskies into 23 turnovers to only 14 for Northern.

The Wildcats’ Jordyn Schmittdiel, who scored a modest four points, led all rebounders with nine, including six on the offensive glass, despite playing just 17 minutes as she added three assists and two steals.

Northern got off to an auspicious start, grabbing a 5-0 lead after an Alyssa Hill jumper and Newcomer 3 just over two minutes in. Hill is a Negaunee High School graduate.

St. Cloud got back within a single score until taking its first lead, 13-12, with 2:35 left in the first quarter on an Abigail O’Reilly jumper.

NMU retook the lead 45 seconds later on a Hill layup and led 16-15 to start the second.

The Huskies (2-1) hit back-to-back baskets to open period No. 2 to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the quarter, including 38-32 at halftime.

That was just the start of the Wildcats’ troubles, with St. Cloud expanding its lead into double digits for the first time, 42-32, less than a minute into the third quarter.

The Huskies’ advantage reached its zenith, 50-35, with 6:41 left in the third on a pair of Zarneke free throws.

That might’ve rang all of NMU’s alarm bells as Northern immediately went on an 11-0 run to slice its deficit to 50-46 with 4:13 remaining in the period. That spurt was led by a trio of Newcomer 3s along with a Sydney Whitehouse layup.

While St. Cloud worked to regain its advantage, it never reached double digits again with the Huskies ahead 58-53 entering the final quarter.

Northern put together another run to open the fourth, retaking the lead 60-59 on a Faith Walder layup with 5:37 left.

Not much scoring happened after that in regulation, St. Cloud getting layups by Zarneke and Rachel Kottke to get back to a 63-60 edge before Weisbrod hit her tying triple with 102 ticks left.

The Huskies once again got loose to open OT, going up 67-64 after a layup and a pair of free throws just over a minute in.

Weisbrod erased that lead with one swipe of her scoring pen, nailing another triple with 3:42 left. Her final 3 of the day 75 seconds later gave the Wildcats the lead for good as they scored the final 10 points that included 3 of 4 free throws in the last 56 seconds.

Northern is not home again until Wednesday, Dec. 17, for a 5:30 p.m. game against former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Northwood.

Before that, NMU plays Minnesota-Crookston on back-to-back days, Nov. 29-30, then opens GLIAC play with games at Wisconsin-Parkside on Dec. 4 and at Roosevelt on Dec. 6.

NMU 77, St. Cloud St. 69 (OT)

Thursday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

ST. CLOUD STATE — Zarneke 9-3-22, Lambe 5-1-11, Eggebrecht 2-0-5, R. Kottke 2-0-4, O’Reilly 7-5-19, K. Kottke 4-0-8. Totals 29-9-69.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Weisbrod 8-1-22, Newcomer 5-1-16, Pytleski 3-3-10, Hill 3-0-6, Romero 1-1-4, Walder 2-2-6, Whitehouse 2-0-5, Schmittdiel 1-2-4, Schroeder 2-0-4. Totals 27-10-77.

Score by quarters:

St. Cloud State 15 23 20 5

Northern Michigan 16 16 21 10 14 — 77

FG shooting: St. Cloud 29 of 64 (45.3 percent), NMU 27 of 70 (38.6 percent); 3-point shooting: St. Cloud 2 of 16 (12.5 percent), NMU 13 of 31 (41.9 percent); FT shooting: St. Cloud 9 of 10 (90 percent), NMU 10 of 16 (62.5 percent); Rebounding, St. Cloud 41 (Abigail O’Reilly and Kristi Kottke 8 each), NMU 36 (Jordyn Schmittdiel 9); Assists, St. Cloud 15 (Brynn Olson 3), NMU 20 (Sarah Newcomer 5); Steals, St. Cloud 7 (Alana Zarneke 3), NMU 15 (Jacy Weisbrod 4); Turnovers, St. Cloud 23, NMU 14.

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