LAKELAND, Fla. â€Â“ The Northern Michigan University womenâ€Â™s basketball team won its second game in the Sunshine State on Thursday.  The Wildcats down 26-17 at the half came back with a 43-point performancein the second half to defeat Florida Southern, 60-55.  NMU moves to .500 on theseason with a 4-4 record.  Florida Southern is now 5-6. 

NMU struggled in the first half by shooting 28 percent fromthe floor (7-25).  The â€Â˜Cats made two three-pointers and one free throw duringthe first 20 minutes of play.  Jenna Williams scored six points to lead the wayin the first half.

The second half saw the â€Â˜Cats begin the half by going on a16-5 run to take the lead for good on Maria Kaszaâ€Â™s three-point play with 15:46left on the clock and the score 33-31.  NMU expanded its lead to as many as 10points twice during the half.  Allison Carroll made a lay-up with 12:12 left togive the â€Â˜Cats the 45-35 lead.  With a little more than a minute left in thegame, Williams hit a jumper to give NMU the 56-46 advantage.

For the game the â€Â˜Cats ended the 40 minutes of play by going21-50 from the floor (42 percent) and 8-25 from the three-point line (32percent).  From the line NMU was 10-18 (55.6 percent).  The â€Â˜Cats had one morerebound than Florida Southern with 38. 

Tera Opperman led the way for NMU with 17 points.  Threeother â€Â˜Cats were in double-figures as Carroll ended the game with 14 points andseven rebounds.  Kasza added 12 and Williams 11 points respectively.  CassiRushford had a team-high eight rebounds.  Erica Nelson led Florida Southernwith 13 points.

Opperman and Kasza were named to the all-tournament team. NMU will be back in action on Monday (Jan. 2) with a trip to Houghton, Mich, to take on the Huskies.