MARQUETTE – The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team got off to a slow start Thursday, but their offense came alive midway through the first half and the Wildcats kept it going for the rest of the contest.

The Wildcats (14-8 overall, 12-6 GLIAC North) trailed for the first 10 minutes of the game before building up a comfortable lead to cruise to a 66-48 win over Saginaw Valley State (7-17, 2-16). Senior Courtney Lemon led NMU with 17 points, while Lauren Gruber chipped in 14.

“I thought we had a very good start to the second half,” NMU head coach Troy Mattson said. “Defensively they are very good, but we needed to get some stops and get the ball out in the open court, which we did in the second half.”

Senior Alyssa Colla scored nine points to move into sixth place in the Wildcats all-time scoring list.

SVSU led 14-9 with 10:28 left in the first half before NMU caught fire and went on a 12-2 run highlighted by a 3-pointer by Lemon. The Wildcats later took a 29-24 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Wildcats held the Cardinals scoreless for the first 6:55 and went on a 10-0 run. SVSU cut the deficit to single digits, but a 3-point play by Abbey DeBruin and two treys by Lemon pushed the Wildcats’ lead back up to double digits, which they would maintain for the remainder of the game.

NMU plays Hillsdale Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Berry Events Center.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. He can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.