MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Davenport women's basketball team had a silver lining on Thursday (Feb. 22) as they suffered a 55-44 loss at Northern Michigan. The Panthers (8-18, 6-13 GLIAC) qualified for the upcoming GLIAC Tournament in their first year in the league as both Saginaw Valley State and Tiffin also lost. The Panthers own a tiebreaker over both teams and are one game ahead in the standings with just the regular season finale occurring on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Panthers came out strong in the first quarter and built a 13-4 lead at the 3:22 mark. The Wildcats scored the first points of the game but then DU went on a 9-0 run. DU led 15-10 at the end of the quarter, which was their highest scoring quarter of the game. NMU shot just 18.2 percent but were 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Davenport went 7-of-16 from the floor.
-The Wildcats tied the game at 19 with 2:32 left in the second quarter, but DU regained the lead with a triple by Hannah Wilkerson. The Panthers led 22-19 at halftime as they shot 30 percent in the quarter and were 1-of-2 behind the arc.
-The third quarter featured four ties and two lead changes. NMU took their first lead since 2-0 at the 8:58 mark on a Emily Schramek three-pointer. The Wildcats increased their lead to 32-26 at the 4:33 mark, but then the Panthers went on 10-2 run to lead 36-34 after a Claire Austin bucket.
-The fourth quarter was a struggle offensively for Davenport as they didn't score their first points of the quarter until the 1:42 mark. NMU went on a 14-0 run in the first 8:18 as DU missed their first 11 shots. The Panthers did score eight points down the stretch, but it was a little too late.

INSIDE THE BOX
-Haley Gibbons set a career-high with nine points to lead the team. She scored all of those in the first quarter going 4-of-6 from the floor including a three-pointer. It was her first triple of the season. Gibbons started for the injured Jenna Falkenberg, the team's second-leading scorer. Gibbons attempted just two shots over the final three quarters and finished with three steals and two boards in 18 minutes.
-Emily Severn added six points and five rebounds. She could not get it going from the floor going 3-of-11 including 0-of-4 behind the arc. It was the first time in the last six games without a three.
-Kelsey Crockett scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and led the team with six rebounds. It was the second time this season she led the team in rebounding during a game.
-Davenport shot 10-of-31 in the second half. After a cold first half, Northern Michigan shot 11-of-21 in the second half. The Wildcats were a perfect 18-of-18 from the free throw line, the best an opponent has done against DU this season. On the flip side, DU went just 1-of-6 from the stripe their worst percentage this season.
-Lexi Smith led NMU with 22 points going 11-of-11 from the line and also grabbed six rebounds. Jessica Schultz added 14 points and eight rebounds.

UP NEXT
-The Panthers will conclude the regular season on Saturday as they travel further northwest to Houghton for a 3 p.m. start against the No. 17 Huskies of Michigan Tech. MTU won the previous meeting, 82-54, back on Jan. 25 in a game played in Sault Ste. Marie.