ALPENA, MI - Gaylord outscored the Wildcats 12-5 in Overtime to pull away for a 56-49 victory in the Big North Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night.  Gaylord's Savanna Gapinski was hot early as she scored nine of her game-high 26 points in the opening quarter to push the Blue Devil lead to 18-10.  Alpena would begin chipping away at the lead throughout the 2nd quarter behind the play of Allison Urlaub.  Urlaub, who led the Wildcats with 8 first-half points, hit a three-pointer followed by a three-pointer from Alison DeRocher to tie the game at 23-23 late in the half.  A late Blue Devil basket gave Gaylord the 25-23 lead at the halftime break.

The two teams would play the majority of the 3rd quarter within a three-point margin until Urlaub connected on another three-point shot with 1:54 left to tie the game at 30-30.  Gaylord would finish the quarter with the 37-36 lea behind the play of Gapinski, Molly Kinser, and Kennedy Neff.  Jenna Leeck had a personal four-point run as well in the quarter to keep the Wildcats within striking distance.  

In the final quarter, Jade Schultz began to exert her physical presence in the paint as she scored six straight points to give Alpena the 44-42 lead with 0:48 left to play.  Gapinski responded with a driving score to tie the game at 44-44.  After a jump ball gave Alpena the ball with 0:05 to play, the Wildcats had a perfect opportunity to win the game but the shot rolled off the rim.

Gaylord scored four straight in the opening moments of the overtime to put pressure on the Wildcats.  Rachel Klepadlo hit a three with 2:44 to give the Blue Devils a five-point lead.  Gaylord would go 4-for-7 from the free-throw line late in the overtime to put the game away. 

Urlaub led the Wildcats with 19 points, Jade Schultz finished with 10 points, Jenna Leeck had eight points, and Anna Young had seven.  Alpena (2-1, 0-1 BNC) travels to Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday.