Northern Michigan University’s Sarah Newcomer, center, makes a quick pass as she drives the lane and is surrounded by three defenders during a GLIAC women’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University put on a long-range shooting clinic for fans who could make it out in the frigid cold at Vandament Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats made 15 shots from 3-point range to blitz Wayne State 91-71 and move into a second-place tie in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Warriors had been in second place alone before Saturday, so now both national No. 16 NMU and Wayne State are 8-2 in the league with Northern 17-3 overall and WSU at 13-5 in all games.

National No. 1 Grand Valley State continues to keep a stranglehold on the conference’s top spot at 10-0 and 18-0 overall. Ferris State is just a half game out of second place at 7-2.

The Wildcats’ 15-of-23 performance on triples — 65% success — was not only a season best, but one of the best in program history. Overall, NMU made 58% from the field (33 of 57) to just 40% for the Warriors (26 of 65).

While leading scorer and regular sharpshooter Jacy Weisbrod was excellent from long range, making 5 of 7 there and 8 of 12 overall from the field, teammate Sarah Newcomer was even better, making 6 of 7 triples and 8 of 11 overall.

Newcomer finished with 22 points and Weisbrod 21, while Sydney Whitehouse came off the bench to add 15 points, making 4 of 5 free throws.

Weisbrod added in five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal while not committing a turnover in 32 minutes court time, while Newcomer also contributed four rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal.

Jordyn Schmittdiel, reigning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, only had four points but grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and made three assists, while CJ Romero was held off the scoreboard but had a crazy 11 assists.

Taylor Thompson paced Wayne State with 27 points.

The teams traded the lead several times in the first few minutes before Faith Walder made a layup with 5:17 left in the first quarter to give Northern a 7-6 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Leading 19-16 after one quarter, Wayne State whittled its deficit to one point several times in the first three minutes of quarter No. 2 before a 10-3 run by NMU made it 31-23 after a Weisbrod triple with 4:55 left in the first half.

The Wildcats also scored the final eight points of the quarter to lead 41-27 at halftime, then got to their first 20-point lead, 58-37, with 4:57 left in the third after a pair of Walder free throws.

It was up to 68-43 entering the final period before hitting its high-water mark of 29 points twice, the final time 76-47 on a Weisbrod layup with 7:32 remaining.

NMU gets its second and final chance at league-leading Grand Valley at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a game in Allendale, before making the short trek to Grand Rapids to take on Davenport at 1 p.m. Saturday.

NMU 91, Wayne St. 71

Saturday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

WAYNE STATE — Thompson 10-5-27, Ferguson 1-5-8, Tubergen 2-2-6, Miller 2-0-4, Gordon 4-0-8, Ayrault 3-0-8, Boyke 2-0-6, Homan 2-0-4. Totals 26-12-71.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Newcomer 8-0-22, Weisbrod 8-0-21, Pytelski 3-0-8, Hill 4-0-8, Whitehouse 5-4-15, Walder 3-2-9, Schmittdiel 2-0-4, Marta 0-2-2, Slocum 0-2-2. Totals 33-10-91.

Score by quarters:

Wayne State 16 11 16 28 — 71

Northern Michigan 19 22 27 23 — 91

FG shooting: Wayne State 26 of 65 (40 percent), NMU 33 of 57 (57.9 percent); 3-point shooting: Wayne State 7 of 22 (31.8 percent), NMU 15 of 23 (65.2 percent); FT shooting: Wayne State 12 of 15 (80 percent), NMU 10 of 13 (76.9 percent); Rebounding, Wayne State 29 (Taylor Thompson and Mackenzie Miller 5 each), NMU 37 (Jordyn Schmittdiel 8); Assists, Wayne State 12 (McKenna Ferguson and DeMaya Asberry 3 each), NMU 24 (CJ Romero 11); Steals, Wayne State 5 (5 players with 1 each), NMU 4 (4 players with 1 each); Turnovers, Wayne State 7, NMU 12.

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.