Northern Michigan University’s CJ Romero, left, congratulates Jacy Weisbrod on making a layup to get the Wildcats on the board during a GLIAC game played against Ferris State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 12. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University has an excellent chance this week to stay in the race at the top of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

That’s because the Wildcats are facing two of the three teams currently out of the GLIAC Tournament that begins in just about a month.

NMU, ranked No. 14 nationally and tied for third place with Wayne State at 9-3 in the conference and 18-4 overall, hosts ninth-place Saginaw Valley State (3-9 GLIAC) at 5:30 p.m. today and 10th-place Lake Superior State (2-10) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Vandament Arena.

This week’s games will be streamed on FloCollege and can also be heard live on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 The Point. Fans can also follow @NMU_WBBall on Instagram and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates throughout the weekend, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s basketball schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live statistics and a preview.

Saturday’s contest is the Wildcats’ Play4Kay game, focused on bringing awareness and support to the fight against all cancers affecting women. Play4Kay is a national fundraiser honoring the late Kay Yow, a former North Carolina State head coach for 34 years who died in 2009, and all women in their fight against cancer. Everyone is encouraged to wear pink to that game to support the cause. 

Northern is firmly entrenched into a top-four position that would garner home court for the first round of the GLIAC postseason. But they are not only tied with WSU for third, but just a game behind second-place Ferris State (10-2 GLIAC) with eight contests left to play. National No. 1 Grand Valley State will be awfully hard for anyone to catch at 20-0 overall and 12-0 in the league.

After the Wildcats and Warriors in the standings are a pair of 6-6 teams, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin-Parkside.

Last weekend, NMU split a pair of games, falling at powerful GVSU 70-47 before knocking off seventh-place Davenport 95-62.

Looking at all games, Northern has the No. 2 scoring defense at 61.3 points per game and No. 4 scoring offense at 74.0 ppg.

LSSU and SVSU are both in the bottom five of the league in those categories.

Last weekend during the win at Davenport, Wildcats senior Jacy Weisbrod made 6 of 8 on 3-pointers to set the program career record with 248 triples, breaking a record previously held by Negaunee High School graduate Marissa DellAngelo set in 2002.

Weisbrod also scored a game-high 25 points while teammate Sarah Newcomer chipped in with 24 as she also made a half-dozen 3s. Weisbrod continues to lead the nation in 3-pointers made per game with 3.59, also leading Northern in scoring, steals and blocked shots. She’s the GLIAC scoring leader at 17.1 ppg in all games, ranked No. 1 in 3-point percentage of 43.4% and No. 7 in overall shooting of 44.7%.

Newcomer is the No. 6 shooter of triples at 36.8% and third in 3s per game at 2.3, just 0.1 behind second-place Ella Mason of Michigan Tech and past Negaunee fame.

Saginaw Valley (5-15 overall) broke a seven-game losing streak last week with a 59-50 home win over seventh-place Roosevelt. Three weeks ago, the Wildcats won at the Cardinals’ gym, 67-51.

LSSU (5-15 overall) can claim to be the No. 3 team in the GLIAC in blocked shots at 3.6 per game as Grace Bradford is the league’s No. 7 scorer at 14.9 ppg. In their earlier meeting in Sault Ste. Marie, NMU prevailed 80-61.

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