GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - It was a strong defensive effort that propelled the Davenport women's basketball team to a 56-50 win over Northern Michigan on Friday at the Student Center. The 50 points scored by the Wildcats was the second-best effort by Davenport this season defensively and held Lake Superior State to 49 points on Feb. 5. Northern Michigan (7-8) shot 40.8 percent for the game and were 5-of-16 behind the arc. The majority of their points were scored by Makaylee Kuhn with 24 on 9-of-14 shooting. The rest of the team went just 11-of-35 (31.4 percent) from the floor. The Wildcats also turned it over 19 times compared to nine for the Panthers. Kuhn had eight of those turnovers as DU recorded a season-high 14 steals. Davenport held a 20-9 edge in points off turnovers and scored 17 points on the fast break.

The low-scoring first quarter saw the Wildcats lead 10-9. Both teams combined to shoot 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) in the quarter. Northern Michigan surged ahead 32-25 at halftime by shooting 53.3 percent in the second quarter including 4-of-7 behind the arc. The Panthers came out strong in the third quarter and tied the game at 34 in the first three minutes to force a timeout by the Wildcats. The Panthers used a 10-0 run by scoring the first points after the timeout on a Kenzie Wilkinson triple. In the fourth quarter, NMU cut the deficit to 43-42 at the 8:31 mark. Davenport countered with the next five points on a Toni Grace basket and a Grace three-point play. DU led 52-50 with 16 seconds left when Grace made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 54-50. She then stole the inbounds pass after a Wildcat timeout and was intentionally fouled. She made two more free throws to seal the win with eight seconds left.

Grace had just three points in the first half but rebounded to finish with 14 points and a season-high five steals. Loni Sales led the team in scoring for the second time this season with 15 points and was 7-of-11 from the floor with two steals and an assist. Taylor Opolka scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting. Scout Nelson scored eight points and tied the team high with five rebounds. Wilkinson had five points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists while making both shots she attempted.