And a familiar one, too.

The Wildcats face fellow Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member Wayne State at 7:30 p.m. Friday to open the Midwest Regional of the NCAA D-II nationals.

NMU is the No. 5 seed in this region, the Warriors are No. 4. Just to boot, Wayne State finished tied for second in the conference regular season at 17-3 while Northern was fourth at 15-5. But NMU comes into this game at 25-7 overall as WSU is 23-7.

Each bowed out in Saturday’s semifinals of the GLIAC Tournament, the Wildcats to No. 1 seed Grand Valley State 66-38 and Warriors to No. 3 Ferris State 104-86.

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

Finally, these foes split their two regular-season games, NMU winning in Marquette 91-71 on Jan. 24 and Wayne State in Detroit 84-63 on Feb. 12. So that’s a one-point difference between them in those games, Northern winning by 20 and losing by 21.

They’ll be playing Friday night in Allendale at GVSU’s gym, a privilege the Lakers earned as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region with their sterling 30-1 overall mark, league regular-season title — they were 19-1 in those games — and also the championship of the GLIAC Tournament after dispatching Ferris 83-62 on Sunday. Just to boot, Grand Valley is ranked No. 2 in the nation in this week’s Women’s Basketball Coaches Association poll.

Fans can follow @NMU_WBBall on Instagram and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during games, while the game will also be broadcast live on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point. And fans online can also go to Northern’s athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s basketball schedule for links to live video, live statistics and a preview.

This marks the Wildcats’ third consecutive season receiving an at-large bid to the national tournament. In each of the past two years, NMU won its first-round game to advance to the round of 32 before bowing out.

Last year, Northern dropped former GLIAC member Hillsdale 61-56 before being dispatched by powerhouse Ashland, another former conference member, 68-45.

A year earlier in March 2024, the Wildcats felled Kentucky Wesleyan 69-56 before bowing out to Grand Valley 72-44.

The NMU-Wayne State contest is the final game of Friday’s quadruple-header being played in Allendale. Kicking off the day at noon are a pair of former GLIAC members, No. 3 seed Northwood vs No. 6 Malone, with current league member and No. 2 Ferris State facing No. 7 Missouri-St. Louis at 2:30 p.m., then region host and No. 1 Grand Valley taking on No. 8 Maryville at 5 p.m.

The winners from the two earlier games square off at 5 p.m. Saturday in the regional semifinals, followed by a possible third matchup of the Wildcats and Lakers at 7:30 p.m. — if they can both pull off first-round victories.

Finally, the semifinal winners take Sunday off before the returning for the regional final at 7 p.m. Monday.

That regional champion will get a full week off — actually eight days — before advancing to the Women’s Elite Eight to be played at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh from March 24-28.

Northern has one other leg up on Wayne State, its No. 24 national ranking compared to the Warriors in the “others receiving votes” category, technically they could be called No. 36. Also, Ferris is No. 16 in the rankings.

Three NMU players earned conference recognition recently — not only were senior guards Jacy Weisbrod and Sarah Newcomer named to the GLIAC First Team, but sophomore guard-forward Sydney Whitehouse was named the conference’s Sixth Woman of the Year.

Weisbrod finished the regular season as one of the most dangerous and prolific scorers in the country, third in scoring in the GLIAC with 16.3 points per game while leading the nation in 3-pointers, with 103 made also ahead of anyone in Division I, as her 3.42 triples per game was No. 2 in Division II. Her 3-point percentage of 39.7% was third in the league, too.

She finished with 20 points on a dozen occasions, making at least four 3s in a game 15 times.

Newcomer was another big scorer and long-range shooter, averaging 11.3 ppg, No. 2 on the team, and 77 made 3s and 37.4% success rate on them also in the top 30 nationally.

With head coach Casey Thousand employing the same starting five in every game this season, Whitehouse came off the bench in all 32 games to average 9.5 ppg and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 42.2% from the field. She played just shy of 19 minutes per game on average and scored in double digits 14 times, including 10 of the last 14 games.

A couple of other Wildcats have also put up some gaudy statistics. CJ Romero runs the offense, not only having twice as many assists as any other Wildcat, 148, but posting a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks 16th in the country with her 4.6 assists an outing putting her 30th.

Negaunee High School graduate Alyssa Hill provides big rebounding numbers. While fourth on the team in scoring at 8.5 ppg — including not a single 3-pointer attempted — she was tops on the team and fourth in the GLIAC at 7.8 rebounds per game, including making a career-high 18 in the regular-season finale, a 65-56 home win over Wisconsin-Parkside.

Off-the-bench player — maybe she could be called Seventh Woman of the Year — Jordyn Schmittdiel gets an honorable mention on the boards, as despite averaging just 13.5 minutes per game, averaged 5.3 rebounds each outing while tying Weisbrod for No. 1 on the team with 32 steals.

Wayne State had won nine in a row before falling in the GLIAC tourney semis, a span that included handing Grand Valley its only loss, 78-77 on Feb. 7, and beating Northern in Detroit right after that on Feb. 12.

Head coach Carrie Lohr was named GLIAC Coach of the Year, while McKenna Ferguson at 16.4 ppg, Taylor Thompson at 15.6 ppg and Gabi Lutchka at 15.2 ppg all were named conference First Team.

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