Northern Michigan University’s Alyssa Hill, second from left, is surrounded by a trio of defenders as she brings the ball down low under the basket before dribbling the ball out of harm’s way during a GLIAC women’s basketball game played against Wisconsin-Parkside at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The women’s basketball team at Northern Michigan University ensured that Wisconsin-Parkside wouldn’t make a return trip to Marquette on Wednesday afternoon.

They kept the Rangers in sixth place in the league with a 65-56 victory on Saturday afternoon.

With the Wildcats locked into fourth place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, they were just awaiting who would be fifth for the No. 4-vs.-No. 5 matchup in the first-round quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament.

That will now be Michigan Tech, which finished a game ahead of Parkside with a 70-51 win over Roosevelt on Saturday.

But it’s NMU that will host the tourney matchup as the higher seed at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Vandament Arena. It’s the first half of a doubleheader with the Northern men’s team, which as league champion and No. 1 seed, hosts No. 8 Ferris State at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are on sale online at tickets.nmu.edu, by visiting the Superior Dome Ticket Office or calling 906-227-1032 during weekday hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

NMU Sports Information notes that separate tickets will be required to attend each game, the arena to be cleared after the women’s game.

Tickets are $14 for general public reserved seats, $10 for general public general admission, $2 for college students general admission with valid ID, and free for children under 5.

As the tourney’s No. 4 seed, Wednesday’s game will likely be the Wildcats’ final home game of the season, as the highest remaining seed will host the semifinals and finals this weekend. It would take a Northern win coupled with upsets of No. 1 Grand Valley State, No. 2 Ferris State and No. 3 Wayne State for the Wildcats to host the semis and finals.

NMU has sterling records of 24-6 overall and 15-5 in the GLIAC, while Parkside finished sixth at 14-14 and 9-11.

Saturday’s defensive battle wasn’t so much that for leading scorer Jacy Weisbrod, who put in 24 points that included a pair of 3-pointers and three rebounds.

The other big number on the stats sheet was put up by Negaunee High School graduate Alyssa Hill, who pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds as part of Northern’s 45-30 domination on the boards.

She added eight points, making 4 of 6 shots from the field.

Teammates CJ Romero and Sydney Whitehouse added 10 points apiece, Romero hitting a pair of 3s and dishing out a game-high eight assists and grabbing five rebounds, while Whitehouse had a triple and grabbed four rebounds.

Sarah Newcomer scored nine points, all coming after making 3 of 6 on 3s, while adding four assists.

Lillie Petersen paced UWP with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Wildcats raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes, Hill making a layup and Whitehouse a 3 and layup.

But the Rangers started chipping away in the final few minutes of the opening period, pulling within 13-11 at quarter’s end.

Then they tied it 13-13 just over a minute into quarter No. 2 on a Lexi Bugajski layup. That must’ve woken up NMU, which immediately went on a 9-0 run for a 22-13 advantage after a Whitehouse layup with 4:54 left in the first half.

Still ahead 27-22 at halftime, Northern gave up the lead for the one and only time all afternoon, 32-31 with 6:05 left in the third, after a Cassidy Arni layup.

The Wildcats needed more than a minute to retake the lead, 33-32 on a Hill layup, but it’s a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

That was mainly because Hill’s layup began an NMU 14-0 run that made it 45-32 with 2:08 left in the third following a Weisbrod triple.

With Parkside still down 47-38 at the end of the quarter, the Rangers cut it to a single possession, 50-48, with 7:27 left on a Petersen 3.

Threatened yet again, Northern answered with another run, this one 10-2, to go up 65-52 with 1:35 to go after a pair of Weisbrod free throws.

NMU 65, Wis.-Parkside 56

Saturday at Vandament Arena

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE — Petersen 6-0-13, Bugajski 4-0-10, Hamill 3-1-8, Arni 3-0-6, Nelson 2-1-5, Derlein 4-0-9, Hampel 1-3-5. Totals 23-5-56.

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Weisbrod 10-2-24, Romero 4-0-10, Newcomer 3-0-9, Hill 4-0-8, Whitehouse 4-1-10, Schmittdiel 1-0-2, Walder 1-0-2. Totals 27-3-65.

Score by quarters:

Wisconsin-Parkside 11 11 16 18 — 56

Northern Michigan 13 14 20 18 — 65

FG shooting: Wis.-Parkside 23 of 58 (39.7 percent), NMU 27 of 64 (42.2 percent); 3-point shooting: Wis.-Parkside 5 of 18 (27.8 percent), NMU 8 of 23 (34.8 percent); FT shooting: Wis.-Parkside 5 of 7 (71.4 percent), NMU 3 of 7 (42.9 percent); Rebounding, Wis.-Parkside 30 (Lillie Petersen 9), NMU 45 (Alyssa Hill 18); Assists, Wis.-Parkside 16 (Petersen 6), NMU 18 (CJ Romero 8); Steals, Wis.-Parkside 7 (Katie Hamill and Jaelyn Derlein 2 each), NMU 2 (Sarah Newcomer and Jordyn Schmittdiel 1 each); Turnovers, Wis.-Parkside 10, NMU 12.

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