Northern Michigan University’s Jacy Weisbrod, front, drives to the basket while working around Minnesota-Duluth's Vanessa Bickford during their college women’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Nov. 21. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

CROOKSTON, Minn. — Thanks to Jacy Weisbrod’s career game, the nationally ranked women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University had little trouble handling Minnesota-Crookston for the first of two games in two days between the teams in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The No. 18 Wildcats bounced the Golden Eagles 89-57 on Saturday afternoon with their second game scheduled for Sunday.

Weisbrod tied her career high with 29 points as this 3-point-shooting specialist knocked down seven of the long-range shots in 13 attempts and 11 of her 21 shots overall. She added in three steals and three rebounds while not committing a turnover in 25 minutes court time.

Three teammates came off the bench to also score in double digits. Faith Walder added a season-best 13 points, while Madison Schroeder and Sydney Whitehouse had 11 points apiece.

Starter Alyssa Hill, a Negaunee High School graduate, pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds despite playing just 14 minutes as she scored six points, while Jordyn Schmittdiel had seven rebounds to go with eight points and Whitehouse grabbed six boards.

CJ Romero led Northern (7-1) with four assists, while Baraga product Reide Osterman, playing 19 minutes, joined Weisbrod in making three steals as she also grabbed four rebounds and scored two points.

Emma Miller paced Crookston (1-4) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite winning by more than 30 points, Northern trailed for most of the first quarter, including 17-16 at the end of the period.

The second quarter was a different story, though, as the Wildcats finished off an 8-0 run on a Whitehouse layup with 8:05 left to take a 22-17 advantage. They upped it to 48-39 by halftime, then really put the clamps on the Eagles in the third quarter, outscoring their hosts 21-5 in those 10 minutes.

NMU quickly got its first double-digit lead, 50-39, just 19 seconds in on a Weisbrod layup, then extended a streak that began late in the first half for a 20-0 run when Schmittidel made a tip-in with 3:39 left in the third for a 63-39 lead.

Ahead 69-44 after three quarters, the Wildcats’ lead never slipped below 20 points again; in fact, they spent a majority of the final period with a lead in the 30s.

NMU 89, Minn.-Crookston 57

Saturday at Crookston, Minn.

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Weisbrod 11-0-29, Hill 2-2-6, Newcomer 0-2-2, Walder 6-1-13, Schroeder 4-3-11, Whitehouse 5-1-11, Schmittdiel 3-2-8, Showen 2-2-7, Osterman 1-0-2. Totals 34-13-89.

MINNESOTA-CROOKSTON — Miller 7-2-16, Jenkins 4-3-12, Klejeski 1-5-7, Westby 2-0-5, Winjum 2-2-6, Hanks 1-1-3, Mahlen 1-0-3, Mikrot 1-0-3, Pierson 1-0-2. Totals 20-13-57.

Score by quarters:

Northern Michigan 16 32 21 20 — 89

Minn.-Crookston 17 22 5 13 — 57

FG shooting: NMU 34 of 70 (48.6 percent), Minn.-Crookston 20 of 61 (32.8 percent); 3-point shooting: NMU 8 of 22 (36.4 percent), Minn.-Crookston 4 of 25 (16 percent); FT shooting: NMU 13 of 17 (76.5 percent), Minn.-Crookston 13 of 15 (86.7 percent); Rebounding, NMU 44 (Alyssa Hill 10), Minn.-Crookston 38 (Emma Miller 10); Assists, NMU 10 (CJ Romero 4), Minn.-Crookston 7 (3 players with 2 each); Steals, NMU 9 (Reide Osterman and Jacy Weisbrod 3 each), Minn.-Crookston 2 (Riley Jenkins and Halle Winjum 1 each); Turnovers, NMU 7, Minn.-Crookston 17.

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.