Northern Michigan University’s Mackenzie Holzwart brings the ball down the court during a GLIAC game played against Lake Superior State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Feb. 13. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — Even though they were long-time rivals in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Northern Michigan University and Hillsdale women’s basketball teams haven’t seen each other on the court in nearly a decade.

That will all change at noon Friday when they clash in the first-round quarterfinals of the Midwest Region in the NCAA Division II Tournament in downstate Allendale.

GLIAC member Grand Valley State is hosting this eight-team regional as the privilege of being the No. 1 seed. The No. 3-seeded Wildcats (22-8) and No. 6 Chargers (21-9) kick off the event, with No. 7 Ferris State (21-11) also of the GLIAC to face former conference member and No. 2 Ashland (30-3) at 2:30 p.m.

Those winners meet in the regional semifinals at 5 p.m. Saturday.

On the other side of the bracket, the No. 1 Lakers (32-2) play No. 8 Quincy (25-7) at 5 p.m. Friday, while No. 4 Wayne State (19-11) also of the GLIAC goes up against No. 5 Lewis (26-3) at 7:30 p.m.

The winners of the later quarterfinals meet in Saturday’s second semifinal at 7:30 p.m., with the semifinal victors clashing at 7 p.m. Monday for the regional title and a chance to advance to the Elite Eight in Pittsburgh that runs from March 24-28.

NMU and Hillsdale’s last meeting was on Dec. 17, 2016, a 57-39 victory for the Wildcats in Marquette.

After that season, the Chargers left for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference that also includes former GLIAC members Northwood, Ashland, Findlay, Lake Erie, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Tiffin and Walsh. All those teams except Ashland and Northwood left between 2016-18; Ashland bolted in 2021 and Northwood in 2022, according to an online Wikipedia site about the GLIAC.

Northern earned its No. 3 regional seed by finishing second in the GLIAC with a 15-5 record to national No. 2 GVSU, then reaching the league tourney semis before eliminated by Ferris.

Hillsdale has a similar story getting to its No. 6 rating — the Chargers finished second in the G-MAC regular season to powerhouse Ashland at 16-4, then lost to the Eagles in their tourney championship 69-57.

Friday’s game can be viewed online on FloHoops and will also be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point.

Fans can also follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s basketball schedule for links to live video, live audio, live statistics, ticket information, an NCAA tournament page, game preview and the teams’ histories.

Northern head coach Casey Thousand has her plan of attack in mind for the Wildcats’ second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. In her third season, her teams have improved their record each year as she stands at 59-31 as head coach.

“Hillsdale can score from their guards and we have to slow down their shooters,” she said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the game. “Our defense has to be good and we have to be in attack mode on the offensive side. We have one more opportunity to play and that’s the best part right now.”

The Wildcats’ most recent game was a 73-66 loss in the GLIAC semis to Ferris in Allendale, a game that was tied 63-63 with 90 seconds left before the Bulldogs scored 10 straight points to put it away. Freshman Sydney Whitehouse came off the bench and led all scorers with 18 points, despite seeing just 19 minutes court time.

Abi Fraaza also came off the bench and recorded 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

In last year’s NCAA tourney, Northern defeated Kentucky Wesleyan 69-56 in its opener when current junior Jacy Weisbrod tied a program record by making nine 3-pointers. NMU then bowed out 72-44 to No. 1 regional seed Grand Valley.

This year’s Wildcats are one of the best rebounding teams in the Midwest, with a plus-5.6 rebounding margin ranking eighth in the region and 29.0 defensive rebounds a game making them fifth as each is a top-50 mark nationally.

Weisbrod was named to the All-GLIAC First Team and led the the conference most of the season in 3-point shooting, both in volume and accuracy. She is at 2.88 makes a game, fifth in the nation and first in the Midwest, while her percentage is at 40.3%, 16th in the country.

While Weisbrod leads Northern in scoring at 13.7 points per game, clustered together are its next scorers, Fraaza at 9.3 ppg, Sarah Newcomer at 9.0 ppg and Alyssa Nimz at 8.5 ppg.

Fraaza was named GLIAC Sixth Woman of the Year, and over her last five games is averaging 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 65.0% shooting from the field. Newcomer was named to the All-GLIAC Second Team, while Whitehouse is averaging 11.8 ppg over the last five games and scored in double figures in seven of the last eight contests.

Both of Friday’s combatants are rather defensive-oriented. NMU was fifth in league scoring at 67.0 ppg while allowing the second fewest points at 58.7 ppg. Hillsdale’s numbers are 68.5 ppg for and 60.8 ppg against, basically a point and a half to two points more than Northern in each statistic.

Senior guards Lauren McDonald at 14.6 ppg and Caitlin Splain at 13.4 ppg are the Chargers’ leading scorers, while McDonald also leads her team at 7.1 rebounds a game and assists at 3.6 an outing. Each of these players earned All-G-MAC First Team honors.

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