MARQUETTE – Rivalry games are always fun for players and fans alike, and for the Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team, Monday’s game had a happy ending.

Point guard Bre Gaspervich caught an inbound pass and drove unguarded to the basket for the winning layup with 4.3 seconds left as the Wildcats upset Michigan Tech 71-69.

Gaspervich led NMU (9-12 overall, 8-7 GLIAC) with 21 points, while Darby Youngstrom had 19, Chloe Tompkins 13 and Taylor Hodell 10.

When asked how he was feeling after the win, Northern head coach Troy Mattson had a big smile on his face.

“It’s elation,” he said. “It’s been a tough grind on us this year. It’s a good program win for us at the present time. To be able to get ourselves into a close game and win a close game against your rival is just a big boost for our confidence.

“I thought the girls were amazing tonight. They had to make shots to get us back in the game, and then we made shots through the whole second half when we needed to. That was big.

“We are not a team that’s going to score 70 points much, but tonight that was a little breakout for us to realize that we can.”

Both Gaspervich and Mattson were surprised to see the big hole that the Tech defense left to the basket on the winning play.

“I was scared that I was going to get blocked because I can’t be this open,” Gaspervich said. “I just went up and finished it.”

“I couldn’t believe when I looked down there that there was nobody underneath the basket,” Mattson said. “They broke the cardinal sign in basketball, but to our happiness that’s awesome.”

When asked what happened on the Gaspervich layup, Tech head coach Kim Cameron wasn’t sure.

“Kenzie (Huskies guard Mackenzie Perttu) was trying to deny and the play before when you get a steal, you get a little greedy and I’m assuming that’s what she was thinking,” Cameron said. “We’ve never gone on the outside of somebody and not been between them and the basket. I’m not really sure what happened there, but my guess is that she was hoping to get something more out of it and get a big stop. Unfortunately, it was a wide-open layup.”

Cameron also said that defense will be the main focus as the Huskies move on from the loss.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” she said. “Defensively, we have to do a better job in general and overall. Every time we’ve given up 70 points this year, we’ve lost. We gave up 70 and we lost. That’s what we’re going to be focused on moving forward.”

Tech’s Kylie Moxley led all scorers with 27 points, while Danielle Blake had 19 and Elizabeth Kelliher 10.

Gaspervich’s basket came after Tech (13-6, 11-4 GLIAC) knotted the game at 69-69 on a bucket by Moxley with 6.8 seconds left. The Huskies had gotten the ball by intercepting an NMU inbound pass as Moxley drove past Hodell to tie it.

The teams traded baskets for almost the entire fourth quarter. Moxley’s layup was in response to a three-point play by Tompkins with 1:12 remaining. Tompkins basket came after a free throw by Perttu that put Tech up by one at 67-66 with 1:34 left. That was the last time the Huskies held a lead.

When asked what it felt like to get a big victory like that at home, Youngstrom was happy that it was over the Huskies.

“Tech’s our rival and I think that’s the mindset we had,” she said. “Obviously it’s a big win, but we want to beat our rival. They can be the worst in the league and we still want to beat them.

“It’s a big win especially for us younger players because it’s our first time playing Tech and what better way to start it off than with a win.”

Down 36-34 at halftime, Hodell scored back-to-back baskets to put NMU up 38-36 early in the third quarter. Later in the period, Moxley and Gaspervich knocked down jumpers just 31 seconds apart.

With 2:20 left in the period, Kelliher made a layup to cut NMU’s lead to two points, 50-48, but Northern’s Alyson Matkovich answered with a bucket with 1:52 remaining. After NMU’s was called for a shot clock violation, Tech used three free throws to pull within one of the Wildcats at 52-51 to end the quarter.

Tech took control early in the game as a steal by Morgan Anderson led to a layup by Blake, giving the Huskies an 8-4 advantage. NMU got its first lead with a Tompkins layup, making it 15-14, but Tech led by three after the period.

In the second quarter, Moxley started to get hot as she knocked down a trey and made a pair of layups all in about 90 seconds to give the Huskies their biggest lead of the first half, 25-15.

Gaspervich grabbed her own rebound and put in a layup to get things restarted for Northern. Tompkins later hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock to pull the Wildcats within one of the Huskies, 29-28.

The teams traded baskets for the remaining two minutes of the first half with Kerry Gardner and Gaspervich exchanging treys, while a Moxley jumper with 42 seconds remaining was answered with a Youngstrom 3-pointer from the corner with 15 seconds left on the clock.

On Thursday, Northern hosts Grand Valley State at 6 p.m., while Tech faces Ferris State on its own court at 5:30 p.m. The teams exchange opponents while staying at home on Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.