By Journal Sports Staff

UNIVERSITY CENTER — In its GLIAC opener on Thursday, the Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team used some tight defense to prevail with a victory.

On Saturday, the Wildcats did an even better job on defense as they held Saginaw Valley State to only one point in the second quarter as they rolled to a 66-52 win over the Cardinals.

Emily Mueller led Northern with 10 points, while Darby Youngstrom, Lexi Smith and Erin Honkala each had nine points. NMU also heavily out-rebounded SVSU 51 to 23.

The game was close in the first quarter with the Wildcats holding a slim 17-16 lead going into the second, and that’s when NMU started taking control.

Three layups from Youngstrom, Jessica Schultz and Sydney Dillinger put Northern up by seven with eight minutes remaining in the frame. A 3-pointer from Liz Lutz and another Dillinger layup gave the Wildcats a 28-16 advantage. The Cardinals didn’t score until 12 seconds left in the quarter when they sank a free throw. NMU led 34-17 at the half.

The Wildcats kept rolling in the third quarter as a jumper and a triple from Smith put Northern up 48-20 and heading into the fourth, NMU held a 50-32 lead.

SVSU attempted a late rally in the final quarter, but former Marquette Redette Amber Huebner sank two free throws in the final minute to complete the win.

NMU hosts Purdue Northwest Thursday at the Berry Events Center.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.