November 21, 2003

MARQUETTE, Mich. â€Ã‚“ Northern Michigan Universitywomenâ€Ã‚™s basketball team gave Rollins Collegetheir first loss of the season as they defeated them in the first game of atournament hosted by NMU on Friday night at the Berry Events Centerwith a final score of 89-73.  TheWildcats are 4-0 on the season and Rollins is 2-1. 

In the first half of the game the lead kept bouncing fromteam to team. Rollins tied the game at 29-all with a basket by Lindsay Woodcockat 3:40. It wasnâ€Ã‚™t until 3:23 that NMU would use a 14-2 run and takethe lead 31-29 with a two-pointer from Tera Opperman. 

NMU held the lead at half 43-31.  The â€Ã‚˜Cats shot 45.5 percent from the floor(15-33) while Rollins shot 35.5 percent (11-31) for the first 20 minutes.

The Tars came out ready for the second half as they put thefirst six points on the board within two and a half minutes into the secondhalf  to narrow the score 43-37.  Tiffany Grubaugh would answer to the sixpoint run with a three-pointer at 17:33to make the score 46-37. 

NMU secured the win by out-scoring Rollins in the secondhalf 46-42. 

Emily Samuelson and Opperman led the Wildcats in the pointcolumn with 21 each. The 21-point game for Opperman would mark a newcareer-high.  Others contributing to thescore were Grubaugh with 16 points, Holly Cole with 13, and Michelle Moard with10.  Coleâ€Ã‚™s 13 points will give her a newcareer-high.  Moard was defensivelystrong for NMU pulling down seven boards for the night.

The â€Ã‚˜Cats shot 47.8 percent from the floor for the game(32-67) and 28.6 percent from three-point line (2-7)  The Tars were 26-55 from the floor for thegame for 47.3 percent  and made 3-7 fromthe three-point arch for 56.3 percent. From the free-throw line the â€Ã‚˜Cats were 16-13 (69.6 percent) and theTars were 19-25 (76.0 percent).  Theâ€Ã‚˜Cats won the inside game on the boards with 36 to 33 for the visiting team.

NMU will play Concordia University on Saturday at the Berry Events Centerat 5:00 p.m.