Box score

HOUGHTON, Mich.- After trailing a majority of the game, the fifth-ranked University of Indianapolis women's basketball team had a final shot to win but fell short as Northern Michigan escaped with a 52-51 win in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday.  Second-seeded UIndy had two looks in the final seconds but couldn't connect, allowing the Wildcats to advance to the regional semifinal.

SDC Gymnasium had a home-court flavor for Northern Michigan, who had just a 90-minute drive to the Michigan Tech campus.  The Wildcats (22-9) led by as much as 10 in the second half, but the Greyhounds slowly trimmed the margin to have a chance at the end.

With the score knotted at 51 and 19 seconds showing and the clock, UIndy called a timeout to draw up the final play.  Out of the stoppage, sophomore Cayla Keegan drove the right side of the lane with time dwindling.  She got off a shot that proved wide, but freshman Heather Gonser crashed the weak side to grab the rebound.

Gonser kicked it to senior Katie Dewey for one last look, but Dewey's 15-footer fell short, locking the Greyhounds' final record at 26-4 for the season.

Northern Michigan scored the game's first five points as the Greyhounds failed to score for the opening three-plus minutes.  The Hounds had three turnovers and missed their first three shots before all-region first-team honoree Jessica Canary ended the lull with a long jumper.

After a Hillary Wenning 3-pointer tied it at seven, the Wildcats answered with back-to-back triples to earn a small cushion.  The NMU lead topped out at seven midway through the first half, but with the Wildcats up 20-13, UIndy went to work on the deficit.

Canary led the charge, scoring six of the Greyhounds' next eight points to pull UIndy within one at 22-21.  Later, Indianapolis earned its first lead of the day when senior Katie Dewey stole the ball and took it the other way for a deuce, putting the Hounds up 25-24 with three-and-a-half minutes to go.

The lead didn't last long, however, as NMU sophomore Hillary Bowling drained her third trey of the half before the score settled at 29-27 at the break.

The Wildcats shot just 38.5 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but the tourney's seventh seed connected on 5-of-9 three-point attempts to help earn the two-point edge.

Similar to the start of the game, the second half began with a 7-0 NMU run.  Northern Michigan continued to have success from behind the arc as two more threes helped the Wildcat lead touch double digits at 39-29.

The momentum appeared to turn when Canary sank a three at the 12:47 to make it 39-34.  On the ensuing Wildcat possession, Katie Lyons drew an offensive foul to give the Hounds the ball back.  UIndy failed the score, however, and the 'Cats made them pay with another jumper from distance.

Northern pushed the lead back to nine before the Hounds made a final surge.  Relatively quiet for much of the game, GLVC Player of the Year Samantha Meissel battled foul trouble most of day but scored seven of the Hounds' final nine points, highlighted by a conventional 3-point play that tied it at 51-51.

Heather Gonser also made some big plays in the final minutes, coming up with two steals down the stretch to go with her offensive rebound at the end.

Canary finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in her final game in a Greyhound uniform.  Fellow seniors Dewey (6 asts, 4 stls), Heather Rourk (4 pts, 5 rebs) and Sarah Fenneman (2 pts, 2 rebs) also called it a career.  The quartet helped UIndy to an 88-32 (.727) mark in their time on campus, one win shy of the program record for most victories in a four-year span

Senior Christa Erickson led three Wildcats in double figures with 16 points.  UIndy is the second top-five Northern Michigan has defeated at SDC Gym this season, as NMU handed then-top-ranked Michigan Tech its only home loss early this year.  NMU advances to face the region's third seed and GLVC-Tournament-champion Drury (27-6) Sunday.