MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's basketball team (19-7 overall, 14-6 GLIAC) made a thrilling 13-point comeback at Northern Michigan (15-13 overall, 11-9 GLIAC) on Saturday but came up one point short as the Wildcats won 67-66.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- NMU scored the first seven points of the game and eventually led 14-6 at the 5:31 mark.  With 4:38 remaining, senior Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) drove to the rim and cut the home lead to 14-8.  Sophomore Alex Matus (Millbury, Ohio / Toledo Central Catholic) brought WSU with four, 19-15, with a trey at the 56 second mark.  The Wildcats led 22-15 after 10 minutes of action.

- A three-point play from sophomore Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. /Arbor Prep) cut NMU's lead to four, 22-18, at the 8:17 mark of the second quarter.  Senior Shannon Wilson (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / West Bloomfield) tied the game at 22-22 with a triple but Northern Michigan would seize control of the contest at that point.  NMU led 36-26 after a three-point play by Jessica Schultz and would extend the advantage to 41-28 at the 1:31 mark, which would be the score at halftime.

- A three-pointer from Birchmeier aided in WSU's efforts to get back into the game, trimming the deficit to 43-37 with 8:13 to play in the third stanza.  After the home lead returned to nine points, Matus capped a quick 5-0 run with a triple, bringing the Warriors within four, 46-42, at the 4:43 mark.  With one quarter to play, the Wildcats led 55-47.

- Back-to-back layups from junior Ja'Nae Williams (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) kept the Warriors within striking distance, 61-54, with 7:52 to play.  Two free throws from Chambers cut the deficit to three before Matus tied the game at 62-62 with 3:30 remaining.  Williams gave WSU its first lead of the day, 66-64, with a jumper at the 59 second mark.  Instead of playing for the last shot, Birchmeier missed a layup with seven seconds left leading to a foul that sent NMU's Sydney Dillinger to the charity stripe.  She connected on the second of her two free throws and the Warriors were unable to get a game-winning shot attempt off as time expired.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
- Matus paced WSU with a career-high 18 points, connecting on six of her eight three-point attempts, which is a career-high.  Williams finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

LEADING THE WILDCATS
- Lexi Smith scored a game-high 19 points, while three others scored at least 10 points.

UP NEXT
- Fourth-seeded Wayne State will host fifth-seeded Northwood on Wednesday in the GLIAC Quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m.  The game will be aired live on Comcast CN900 live from the Matthaei.  it is the fourth time in the past six seasons that WSU has hosted a playoff contest.