GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport women's basketball team celebrated four seniors on Saturday (Feb. 23) playing in their final home game.
Amanda Merz,
Haley Gibbons,
Martyna Pioro and
Leighten Koepke combined to score 20 points in DU's 64-42 setback against Northern Michigan (20-7, 15-4 GLIAC). Gibbons led the seniors with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting including 2-of-2 behind the arc. Gibbons also had two blocks, one rebound, one assist and one steal in 18 minutes. Koepke scored four points and dished out four assists. Pioro scored two points and had one rebound and one steal. Merz scored five points and had one assist in 26 minutes.
The Panthers played tough in the first quarter and were tied 8-8 with 3:12 left. The Wildcats then dug in on defense. Davenport trailed 13-8 at the end of the quarter and Northern Michigan stretched the lead to 21-8 at the 4:59 mark of the second quarter. The Panthers would go just over nine minutes with scoring a point and that stretch proved critical in turning the game into the hands of NMU.
The lead grew to 28-10 at the 1:05 mark as Elizabeth Lutz canned a triple.
Kenzie Wilkinson responded with her only points of the game on a three-pointer and the Panthers trailed 28-13 at halftime. The lead for the Wildcats was never under double digits for the remainder of the game. DU got to within 31-21 at the 8:31 mark of the third quarter but NMU went on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to take command at 43-23.
Davenport shot 30.4 percent for the game with a high of 46.7 percent in the third quarter. Northern Michigan shot 47.1 percent including a high of 58.3 percent in the third quarter. Jessica Schultz led the Wildcats with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Darby Youngstrom added 17 points and made 3-of-5 behind the arc. The Wildcats shot 8-of-16 from the arc while Davenport was 6-of-18.
Jenna Falkenberg led DU with 12 points and was one rebound shy of her 11th double-double of the season. Falkenberg also blocked three shots and had two assists in 33 minutes. Davenport will finish the season on Thursday, Feb. 28 at Grand Valley State with a 6 p.m. tip.
