In the end, it was Alyssa Hill’s Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team that held off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt to post a 74-66 victory over Michigan Tech on Wednesday evening.

The Huskies lost despite ex-Miner Ella Mason pumping in a game-high 30 points as Hill countered with her own game high of 11 rebounds along with four assists for NMU.

The Wildcats’ triumph in the first-round quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament advances them to the semifinals of the event to be played this weekend in Allendale and hosted by regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Grand Valley State.

The Lakers, ranked No. 2 in the nation with a near-perfect 28-1 record, bamboozled No. 8 seed Lake Superior State 89-45 on Wednesday to ensure they would keep hosting duties for the semis and finals.

Northern Michigan University’s Sydney Whitehouse reacts to sinking a 2-point shot just before the end of the third quarter during a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal women’s basketball game played against Michigan Tech at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

And the way it turned out, NMU will face that Grand Valley juggernaut in the semis at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Each of them playing at home, the top four tourney seeds all won on Wednesday, No. 2 Wayne State turning back No. 7 Roosevelt 75-56, and No. 3 Ferris State downing No. 6 Wisconsin-Parkside 82-74.

That sets up Wayne State and Ferris in the other semi at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with winners playing at 3 p.m. Sunday for the tourney crown and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.

On Wednesday in Marquette, though, there was a showdown of the former Miners stars.

Mason was the obvious star, posting her big point production as she made 11 of 25 from the field, including 3 of 7 on 3-pointers. She also made 5 of 5 free throws, the only player on her team to even attempt a freebie, as she scored 26 of her points in the second half.

Hill’s contribution was a bit more nuanced as she only scored two points, making a pair of free throws, but pulled down double-digit rebounds for the second straight game after she corralled a whopping 18 of them against Parkside to end the regular season on Saturday.

While both teams shot quite similarly, Northern had a huge 40-21 advantage on the boards, much thanks to Hill’s efforts.

That helped offset NMU’s disadvantage in turnovers, 14-5, as the Huskies (16-13) made seven steals.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 21 nationally this week, improved to a sterling 25-6, their first 25-win season since the 1999-2000 campaign.

Their leading scorer actually came off the bench. Sydney Whitehouse played 25 minutes and scored the same number of points, 25, as a model of efficiency. She made 7 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 5 on 3s, and was 8 of 8 on free throws. She added four rebounds.

Regular top scorer Jacy Weisbrod was no slouch, scoring 17 points as she also hit three triples, while teammate Sarah Newcomer put in 16 points, making a pair of 3s, pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Newcomer also broke the career 1,000-point mark on this day.

NMU’s CJ Romero notched double 7s, scoring that many points and leading all players with that many assists.

Other than Mason, MTU’s only other double-figures scorer was Kendall Standfest with 14.

The Wildcats looked rather sluggish — maybe nervous — in the early going as Northern didn’t take its first lead until less than three minutes remained in the first half.

The Huskies quickly amassed a 10-3 lead after Standfest sank a 3 with 6:16 left in the opening quarter, though NMU kept it a one-possession game for the final two minutes of the period, entering the second down 16-13.

Tech gained its biggest lead of eight points, 23-15, with 4:17 left in the first half following a Kloe Zentkowski triple.

But the Wildcats immediately went on a 10-0 run to get their first lead, 25-23, with 2:46 to go in the half after a Weisbrod 3. That run actually turned into a 20-5 spurt to end the first half as Northern built a 35-28 halftime advantage.

The Huskies chipped away again to briefly take their final lead of the night, 38-37, with 6:16 left in the third following a Maja Kozlowska layup.

Thirteen seconds later, however, Whitehouse sank a triple to give NMU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Northern built its lead to 54-43 by quarter’s end, and with another Whitehouse 3 just 25 seconds into the fourth, the Wildcats had a 14-point edge as it began to look like victory would be inevitable.

But Tech had something to say about that, keeping the home team off the board for almost three full minutes after that to knock down NMU’s edge to just five points, 57-52, with 7:09 left.

The lead further eroded until it hit its low point, two points, 65-63 with 1:31 remaining after Mason bombed in a triple.

But less than 30 seconds later, Romero made a 3 and Northern would finish things off with a multipossession lead.

Much of that was thanks to excellent free throw shooting — 6 of 6 — in the final 50 seconds, two each made by Whitehouse, Romero and teammate Jordyn Schmittdiel.

NMU 74, Mich. Tech 66

GLIAC quarterfinals

Wednesday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

MICHIGAN TECH — Mason 11-5-30, Standfest 6-0-14, Zentkowski 3-0-7, Wypych 1-0-3, Timms 1-0-2, Kozlowska 4-0-8, Nuest 1-0-2. Totals 27-5-66.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Weisbrod 7-0-17, Newcomer 6-2-16, Romero 2-2-7, Pytleski 1-0-3, Hill 0-2-2, Whitehouse 7-8-25, Schmittdiel 1-2-4. Totals 24-16-74.

Score by quarters:

Michigan Tech

Northern Michigan 13 22 19 20 — 74

FG shooting: Michigan Tech 27 of 59 (45.8 percent), NMU 24 of 51 (47.1 percent); 3-point shooting: Michigan Tech 7 of 19 (36.8 percent), NMU 10 of 25 (40 percent); FT shooting: Michigan Tech 5 of 5 (100 percent), NMU 16 of 20 (80 percent); Rebounding, Michigan Tech 21 (Ella Mason and Soraya Timms 4 each), NMU 40 (Alyssa Hill 11); Assists, Michigan Tech 12 (Timms and Alyssa Wypych 4 each), NMU 19 (CJ Romero 7); Steals, Michigan Tech 7 (Kloe Zentkowski 3), NMU 2 (Hill and Sydney Whitehouse 1 each); Turnovers, Michigan Tech 5, 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.