Northern Michigan University’s Sydney Whitehouse, right, goes up for two points in the first quarter against Wayne State's Lexi Boyke during their GLIAC women’s basketball game played at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 24. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

ALLENDALE — Leading scorer Jacy Weisbrod was held under 10 points for the second time this season against Grand Valley State as the Northern Michigan University women’s basketball lost to the nation’s No. 1 team 70-47 on Thursday evening.

Weisbrod, the top scorer in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was limited to six points on Thursday after she only scored four points the first time these teams met in Marquette on Jan. 3.

That kind of Lakers’ defense is probably why GVSU is a perfect 19-0 overall and 11-0 in the conference this season, maintaining their top position in NCAA Division II.

At No. 12 nationally, the Wildcats slipped to 17-4 overall and 8-3 in league. NMU had been in a three-way tie for second place but slipped to fourth. However, the two teams now ahead of them, 9-2 Wayne State and 8-2 Ferris State, still have a game to play vs. the Lakers while Northern is done with them.

This also marked Northern’s first road loss of the season after they had won 12 straight away from Vandament Arena dating back to last season.

Weisbrod wasn’t the only Wildcat held down by GVSU’s defense. Overall, NMU shot a little bit under 24% from the field, 14 of 59, and just a paltry 13% on 3-pointers, 3 of 23.

Grand Valley was much better with its shooting touch, making 42% (26 of 62) overall and 36% on 3s (5 of 14).

The Lakers also held a distinct rebounding advantage, 48-36.

Sydney Whitehouse came off the bench to lead NMU scorers with 10 points despite playing just 18 minutes court time. She made both of her free throw attempts.

Sarah Newcomer added eight points even while going 0 for 9 on triples and 2 of 13 overall shooting. She also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds to go with three assists and two blocked shots.

MacKenzie Bisballe led the Lakers with 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, though she also committed five turnovers. Escanaba graduate Nicole Kamin of GVSU added 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists.

Grand Valley outscored Northern in every quarter to gradually build their lead until it was 23 points by game’s end.

Despite that, Weisbrod got NMU off to a good start by sinking a triple 36 seconds in for 3-0 lead. When teammate Faith Walder hit another trey about a minute and a half later, the Wildcats took their final lead of 6-4.

But Northern still had it tied 10-10 with 5:53 left in the opening quarter after a Newcomer jumper before the Lakers would finish the quarter on an 11-4 run for a 21-14 advantage entering period No. 2.

The Wildcats kept their deficit in single digits for more than five minutes of the second before GVSU got it to 30-20 with 4:39 left in the first half on a Ava Scanlon layup, and the Lakers’ lead would never fall below that again.

It was 42-29 at halftime, then 55-39 after three quarters before NMU cut the deficit to 12 points twice in the fourth period, both times on Whitehouse layups. The final time was 59-47 with 5:37 to go.

The Wildcats will look to get back to their winning ways when they make the short trek to Grand Rapids to face GLIAC seventh-place Davenport at 1 p.m. today. The Panthers, 4-7 in the GLIAC, defeated Michigan Tech 63-51 on Thursday.

Grand Valley St. 70, NMU 47

Thursday at Allendale

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Newcomer 2-4-8, Weisbrod 1-3-6, Hill 2-2-6, Romero 1-0-3, Whitehouse 4-2-10, Schmittdiel 2-1-5, Walder 1-2-5, Schroeder 1-2-4. Totals 14-16-47.

GRAND VALLEY STATE — Bisballe 9-1-19, Kamin 3-4-11, Plitzuweit 3-0-8, Vanstee 2-4-8, Anderson 1-0-3, Scanlon 4-3-11, Davis 1-1-3, Zeinstra 1-0-3, Lay 1-0-2, Gaytan 1-0-2. Totals 26-13-70.

Score by quarters:

Northern Michigan 14 15 10 8 — 47

Grand Valley State 21 21 13 15 — 70

FG shooting: NMU 14 of 59 (23.7 percent), Grand Valley 26 of 62 (41.9 percent); 3-point shooting: NMU 3 of 23 (13.0 percent), Grand Valley 5 of 14 (35.7 percent); FT shooting: NMU 16 of 20 (80 percent), Grand Valley 13 of 18 (72.2 percent); Rebounding, NMU 36 (Sarah Newcomer 7), Grand Valley 48 (MacKenzie Bisballe 9); Assists, NMU 7 (Newcomer 3), Grand Valley 15 (Nicole Kamin 6); Steals, NMU 9 (CJ Romero 3), Grand Valley 8 (Avery Lay 2); Turnovers, NMU 13, Grand Valley 15.

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.