Ten Wildcats score in four-point win
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan women’s basketball team held a 17-6 lead after the first quarter, led by as many as 19, and would hold on for a key rivalry win, edging the Michigan Tech Huskies 68-64 on Thursday evening at Vandament Arena.
The Green and Gold did not trail in the game, jumping off to a hot start and holding it for the entirety of the game.
In its third straight game without leading scorer Jacy Weisbrod, the ‘Cats balanced attack proved efficient. All ten Wildcats scored, with everyone recording at least three shots. In her first game of the season, Abi Fraaza led the way with 13 points off the bench on 5-7 (71.4%) shooting. Alyssa Nimz also found double figures with 11 while the guards put in the dirty work down low with CJ Romero leading the team with a career-high six rebounds and Mackenzie Holzwart adding three blocks.
Northern made its bread and butter scoring down low, holding a 32-18 advantage in the paint. The ‘Cats had success throughout the game by driving to the hoop and then passing it off to the open player when they were doubled, often coming via a backdoor cutter for an open bucket down low.
The Wildcats shot 26-60 (43.3%) overall while holding the Huskies to 21-62 (33.9%), the fourth lowest shooting-percentage for an NMU opponent this season. Each team knocked in seven threes and Michigan Tech led in rebounds 42-32.
NMU scored the first five to get things going and held Tech scoreless for over three minutes with a pair of shot clock violations on its first four possessions. Sarah Newcomer and Kayla Tierney each connected from beyond the arc and Addison Pytleski ended the quarter with back-to-back driving layups to lead 17-6 after one. NMU’s lockdown defense held Tech to just a 2-15 (13.3%) mark with five turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
A 6-0 run early in the second quickly pushed the Wildcat lead to 23-8 at 6:30. Sydney Whitehouse entered the game and made an impact in every facet. The freshman wing added three assists in her five minutes in the quarter, finding open post players on each occasion. She then attacked the offensive glass and added points of her own to lead 31-14 with three minutes before halftime.
The ‘Cats got six straight buckets in the paint to end the half and led 35-18. NMU shot 15-31 (48.4%) to Tech’s 6-27 (22.2%), while also forcing the Huskies into 10 first half turnovers. NMU led in points in the paint 20-6 through 20 minutes.
The Huskies broke out on an 11-2 run early in the second half to close the gap to 10, 39-29, with 6:30 on the clock. NMU weathered the initial storm, getting three straight trips with three points thanks to Pytleski and Newcomer triples along with a Fraaza old-fashioned three-point play. The Huskies outscored NMU 23-20 in the third, but Northern held a 55-41 lead.
The Huskies used another 11-0 run in the fourth to cut their deficit to five at 64-59 with a minute to play. NMU went scoreless for nearly five minutes before CJ Romero hit a clutch driving layup with 51 seconds to play that pushed the lead back to seven.
The Huskies responded with a three, a steal on the press, and another bucket to trail by just two with 28.3 seconds to play. A Romero free throw stretched the lead to three and the Huskies couldn’t quite catch up, missing a pair of threes in the final seconds.
The win for the Wildcats marks two straight over their UP rival as Northern moves to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the GLIAC. The Huskies fell to 5-8 on the season with a 2-3 conference record.
Up Next
The Wildcats will get its first crack at the newest GLIAC member on Monday, January 13 when they host the Roosevelt Lakers out of Chicago.
