The Northern Michigan University

sharpshooter sank 7 of 9 attempts on those long-range shots to lead her Wildcats to a rather easy 81-60 victory over the visiting Cardinals in the opening-round quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament at Vandament Arena on Wednesday evening.

Weisbrod finished with a game-high 27 points even as she never got an attempt at the free-throw line. Instead, the NMU junior made 10 of 15 overall from the field, including her 78% clip on the triples she made.

This was actually her second straight game making seven 3s, shooting a quite remarkable 70% (14 of 20) during that stretch on treys that includes a regular-season-ending 81-66 win at Purdue Northwest on Saturday.

None of this could’ve come as a surprise to SVSU, since Weisbrod led the league all season in the number of 3-pointers she made per game, finishing at exactly three a contest, while she also led in 3-point percentage for much of the season, finishing second at 40.5%.

Players on the Northern Michigan University bench celebrate a 3-pointer made by the Wildcats’ Alyssa Nimz during a GLIAC Tournament women’s basketball quarterfinal round game played against Saginaw Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Four of Weisbrod’s 3s on Wednesday came in the second quarter, when Northern put up a back-breaking 30 points to turn a game tied after one quarter into a comfortable 15-point margin at halftime.

In that first half, the Wildcats made 62% overall from the field (18 of 29) even while SVSU had a quite solid 52% (12 of 23). And the Cardinals actually shot their 3s in the opening half better than NMU, making 5 of 7 (71%) to 8 of 14 (57%) for their hosts.

Three Northern players joined Weisbrod scoring in double figures as Abi Fraaza came off the bench to score 13 points, making her only 3-point try and 6 of 6 on free throws, then adding in a game-high seven rebounds along with three assists and two steals.

Alyssa Nimz added 12 points, including going 2 of 2 on triples, while Sydney Whitehouse put in 10 points in just 18 minutes, nabbing six rebounds.

The Wildcats not only had a decisive 39-22 edge in rebounding, but a crazy distribution of them, too. Along with Fraaza’s seven and Whitehouse’s six, another half-dozen NMU players grabbed exactly four rebounds — a total of eight players with four rebounds or more.

Aleshia Jones led SVSU (15-14) with 24 points and three steals, while Ava Locklear added 14 points and a team-high five rebounds.

There were seven lead changes in the first quarter which the Cardinals got into a 16-16 tie entering period No. 2 after Jones made a triple with 12 seconds left.

Then the scoring blizzard broke loose in the second quarter.

The Wildcats got off to a fast start when Weisbrod hit a 3 exactly one minute in for a 19-16 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game.

But Saginaw Valley got its deficit back to a single possession three times, the final time at 28-25 with 4:55 left in the first half, before NMU began to put its stamp on the contest.

The Wildcats built their first double-digit lead at 40-29 with 1:24 to go in the half on a Nimz layup and built the advantage to 46-31 by halftime, culminating in a Nimz triple with two seconds to go.

Northern continued to build on its lead little by little in the second half, getting to its first 20-point advantage at 59-38 with 2:51 left in the third quarter when Fraaza made a pair of free throws.

Ahead 64-44 after three, NMU hit its high-water mark with a 23-point lead, 81-58, with 27 seconds left after a pair of Madison Schroeder free throws.

The Wildcats came into this game as a decided favorite as the No. 2 seed in the tourney with a 15-5 GLIAC mark, while the Cardinals were a modest No. 7 seed at 9-11.

Now NMU travels downstate to Allendale and host Grand Valley State for the conference tourney semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats play in the second semifinal at 4:30 p.m. against No. 3 Ferris State, while No. 1 GVSU faces No. 4 Wayne State at 2 p.m.

Winners come back Sunday afternoon to decide the GLIAC Tournament champion and automatic berth in the NCAA Division II tournament at 3 p.m.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.