This story was written by NMU Sports Information

MARQUETTE---The Northern Michigan University women's basketball team downed Minnesota Duluth, 69-55, Tuesday night at the Berry Events Center.

The Wildcats came out to a solid start, putting together a 6-0 run in the first quarter. Minnesota Duluth chipped away at the Wildcat lead to pull back and even the score when Taylor Meyer retrieved her own rebound and sank a jump shot to make it 15-15 at the buzzer.

The Wildcats put together a huge 10-0 run to take a 29-19 lead at 4:47 in the second quarter, highlighted by an astonishing play by Chloe Tompkins, who stalled three Bulldogs to to walk in on an undefended hoop. The Wildcats kept the lead throughout the quarter, ending the half with a 31-23 lead.

In the third quarter, both teams came out shooting, forcing each other to keep up with one another. Darby Youngstrom finished out the quarter by making two free throws to give the Wildcat a 51-40 lead.

Despite the back-and-forth play between the teams, the Wildcats put together 5-0 and 3-0 runs in the fourth quarter to close out the game. 

Three Wildcat starters, Jessica Schultz (17), Bre Gaspervich (12) and Youngstrom (10), scored in the double digits. Erin Honkala contributed 12 from off the bench.

Northern Michigan shot 52.3 percent from the floor, 36.4 from beyond the three-point arc and 76.0 from the charity stripe. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs in the paint, 30-14, and also netted 10 points off of turnovers.

Northern Michigan next competes at the Puma Thanksgiving Basketball Classic in Rensselaer, Ind. on Nov. 25-26.