MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan women's basketball team hosted GLIAC rival Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon, falling 71-58. The Huskies started hot, scoring 27 points in the first quarter while holding Northern to just 16. The 'Cats were never able to quite recover. 

Tech started red hot, knocking down 4-4 from three in the opening couple of minutes. Before the 'Cats noticed, they found themselves down 27-12 in the opening frame. Northern was able to slowly chip away for the remainder of the contest and cut it to eight late in the third, but MTU ended the third strong and hit timely buckets and free throws in the final quarter for the win. 

Makaylee Kuhn scored 12 for the 'Cats to lead the team in points. Jacy Weisbrod added another 10 points and three other Wildcats had eight (Sarah Newcomer, Alyssa Nimz and Braelyn Torrez). Katelyn Meister led all scores with 16 for the Huskies. 

The Wildcats drop to 12-6 overall and 6-3 in the conference, while the Huskies climbed back over .500 at 9-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference. It marked the 14th straight loss to Michigan Tech. 


How It Happened
Kuhn opened up the scoring with the first two points of the game, but from there the Huskies attacked early and often. A pair of triples from forwards Sara Dax and Emma Anderson quickly gave the visitors a 16-6 lead just four minutes into this one. They would shoot 10-15 (66.7%) in the first to NMU's (5-15 (33.3%). 

In the second quarter, Alyssa Nimz and Weisbrod knocked down triples, but the deficit ballooned to as much as 17. Tech maintained its sizable lead of 41-25 heading into the second half. 

The 'Cats started the third quarter with urgency to score, as Ana Rhude had back-to-back layups. CJ Romero added a layup, Newcomer hit a three pointer, and a 2-2 trip to the charity stripe from Braelyn Torres brought it to single digits at 43-35 with 3:20 left in the third. In the first seven minutes out of halftime, Tech shot just 1-11 and Northern seemed to be carrying the momentum, but five turnovers in that time frame from the 'Cats hindered the comeback effort. 

The Huskies ended the third making four of five shots from the floor, holding onto a 51-42 lead with 10 minutes to play. 

The Wildcats gave up 11 free throws in the final quarter of the game to one of the most successful teams in the country in that category. Timely buckets and free throws from Tech prevented the comeback, as they defeated Northern 71-58. 


Up Next
The Wildcats will hit the road to play two GLIAC opponents next week, the Ferris State Bulldogs on Thursday, Feb. 1st at 5:30 p.m. and the Lake Superior State Lakers on Saturday, Feb. 3rd at 1 p.m.