MARQUETTE, Mich. – Lake Superior State women's basketball opened the final week of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference road games with a 73-57 loss against Northern Michigan on Thursday.

The Lakers (5-21, 4-16 GLIAC) outscored NMU 23-13 in the fourth quarter but the contest was already heavily in favor of the Wildcats (13-13, 12-8 GLIAC). NMU had built a 40-19 lead at halftime and extended the gap to 26 points heading into the fourth quarter.

Mackenzie Edwards scored 17 points and added four assists to lead the Lakers. Seniors April LaCross and Megan Manninen each recorded four steals to help the Lakers record 11 thefts in the game and force the Wildcats into 26 turnovers.

Freshman reserve guard Courtney Jacobsen scored 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc.

Reserve center Tamara Novic scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and hitting both attempts at the free throw line in eight minutes of action backing up Rachel Novotny. Novotny also scored eight points and added four rebounds.

The Wildcats, who improved their hopes of reaching the GLIAC Tournament with the victory were led by center Taylor Hodell who scored 18 points, dished out five assists and collected three rebounds. Darby Youngstrom scored 14 points and Bre Gaspervich added 13 to round out NMU starters to reach double figures in scoring.

NMU moved up to the seventh spot in the eight-team conference tournament outlook with the win and losses from Northwood at Michigan Tech and Findlay against Walsh on Thursday.

LSSU travels to Tech for their final road test of the season at 1p.m. on Saturday.