GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Panther women's basketball team returns home to start a five-game homestand against Parkside on Thursday and Purdue Northwest on Saturday. Six of the team's seven wins this season have come at home with a record of 6-2.

The Panthers will be looking to split the season series against the Rangers who are currently in the third-place spot in the GLIAC standings just one game behind league-leading Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech. The Rangers took care of the Panthers back on Jan. 7 in Kenosha by a final of 80-66. Parkside pulled away in the fourth quarter outscoring DU 22-9. Lillee Gustafson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes. Mary Liedel led DU with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. The Rangers have won five straight heading into the matchup and are 8-1 on the road this season. Parkside played a thriller against Purdue Northwest last Saturday winning 86-82 in overtime on the road. Alyssa Nelson poured in 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Paty Gallasova added 19 points.

The Pride will be looking to snap a four-game losing skid heading into the week and will face Davenport on Saturday after playing at GVSU on Thursday. The last victory for Purdue Northwest came against Davenport back on Jan. 5 in Hammond by a final of 76-68. Lillee Gustafson had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Panthers. It was her first 30-point career game. Scout Nelson added 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. Nelson also had seven rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes. Tadriana Heard paced the Pride with 22 points and also had six rebounds and four assists. Dash Shaw scored 18 points and had five rebounds and four assists. The Pride shot 49.1 percent from the floor as a team which is their best in a GLIAC game this season.

● Michigan Tech 76, Davenport 58 (Jan. 19)

The Panthers went into the hostile territory of the SDC Gym last Thursday and the Huskies improved to 15-3, 7-1 GLIAC with a 76-58 win over Davenport. Freshman Claire Gregwer finished with her second double-double of the season and first on the road with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Gregwer tied her season high in points and set her season high in rebounds by a margin of five after 10 rebounds against Hillsdale. She went 5-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 at the free throw line.

Michigan Tech outscored the Panthers 39-34 in the second half as DU shot 38.7 percent from the floor and improved to 5-of-13 from behind the arc. The Huskies continued to shoot well from deep going 6-of-12 in the final 20 minutes. Nelson finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Makenna Bryant added 10 points off the bench with 26-plus minutes and made two triples in seven attempts. Gustafson scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. Alex Rondorf led the Huskies with 21 points and also posted a double-double with 11 rebounds.

● Northern Michigan 57, Davenport 46 (Jan. 21)

Points were hard to come by particularly in the first half on Saturday afternoon for the Davenport women's basketball team at Northern Michigan. Both teams could not find offensive rhythm in the first half as the halftime score was 15-15. It was the lowest scoring combined half this season in a game for the Panthers against their opponent. Northern Michigan scored 13 points in the first quarter and led by five points. In the second quarter, the Panthers clamped down allowing just two points and scoring seven points themselves for the halftime deadlock.

The Wildcats were able to flip the switch in the second half as they scored 17 points in the third quarter and 25 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the 57-46 victory. The Panthers are now 7-12 overall (1-8 GLIAC) while the Wildcats are now 11-7 (6-3 GLIAC). The biggest lead for the Panthers was just two points after their first basket of the game. The Wildcats led by as many as 12 points at the 7:25 mark of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats led for 29:39 compared to 3:34 for Davenport. Both teams took decent care of the ball with 16 turnovers by DU compared to 13 for NMU.

Makaylee Kuhn led all scorers with 22 points and scored 18 of those in the second half while playing every second in the final 20 minutes. Lillee Gustafson scored 12 second-half points and finished with 16 total points on 6-of-15 shooting including 4-of-6 at the line. Gustafson also had six rebounds and played 34-plus minutes. Jaci Walker added nine points and two steals off the bench in 24-plus minutes. Makenna Bryant scored eight points and grabbed three boards. She also led the team with three assists. Both teams finished exactly 19-of-52 from the floor. The free throw line was a different story as the Wildcats went 16-of-22 compared to just 4-of-6 for the Panthers.

LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday, Jan. 26 vs. Parkside (5:30 PM) - Live Video (FloSports) - Live Stats
Saturday, Jan. 28 vs. Purdue Northwest (1:00 PM) - Live Video (FloSports) - Live Stats