MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan women's basketball team has won its last six games and will look close out the regular season on the right foot, as they'll host No. 2 Grand Valley State and Davenport this week at the Berry Events Center.

The Green and Gold (18-7, 12-4) will defend its home court as they host No. 2 Grand Valley State (24-2, 15-1) on Thursday, February 29 at 5:30 p.m. The Cats' will then host Davenport (3-23, 1-15) on Saturday, March 2 at 11 a.m. for Senior Day, with Makaylee Kuhn and Ana Rhude being recognized. 

Northern recently clinched a home playoff game after defeating the Wayne State Warriors 80-74 in the Motor City last Saturday. NMU has now secured a home GLIAC Quarterfinals game for the second straight season and can still make it as high as the No. 2 seed in the tournament. 


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Follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the race. 

Thursday, February 29 - vs. Grand Valley State at 5:30 p.m.
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Game Sponsor: Vango's

Saturday, March 2 - vs. Davenport at 11 a.m.
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Senior Day

Hear from Casey Thousand


Last Time Out
NMU was last on the hardwood on February 24th, where they battled back to defeat the Wayne State Warriors 80-74 on the road. The win was the sixth straight for the Wildcats and secured a home GLIAC Quarterfinals game for the second straight season.

With 6:55 to play, Northern trailed 71-65. The Green and Gold then went on an 11-0 run to grab a five-point lead. A WSU three made it 76-74 with 42 seconds left, but Abi Fraaza connected on a layup with 21 seconds and Sarah Newcomer went nothing but net on back-to-back free throws with 14 seconds remaining to secure the road win. 

The Wildcats were once again led by its top two scorers, as Makaylee Kuhn scored 24 points and Jacy Weisbrod was right behind with 22, including a 6-10 showing from beyond the arc. 


Cat Nips

• During its six-game winning streak, Northern has averaged 71.7 points/game while allowing just 56.8. Opponents are shooting 39.0% from the field and 26.1% from three during that stretch. 
• Sophomore gaurd Jacy Weisbrod was named the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week following two Wildcat road victories in which she averaged 21.5 points/game on 15-25 (60.0%) shooting with a remarkable 11-18 (61.1%) clip from beyond the arc. She is now far-and-away the conference leader in threes, connecting on 70-166 (42.2%). She is 20th in the country in made threes and 13th in threes/game (2.92). She has made at least one in all 24 of her games this season and has connected on 5+ an outstanding six times. Her 15.4 points/game in GLIAC play ranks fifth.
• Makaylee Kuhn is first in the conference averaging 17.6 ppg and is fourth at 7.0 rpg. Kuhn is 109-130 (83.2%) from the free throw line this season, good for second in the GLIAC. She is a three-time All-GLIAC First Teamer and was named to the Preseason First Team. NMU's all-time leading scorer currently has 1,911 career points.
• Ana Rhude has been a force in the paint, rejecting 28 shots this season (third in the league). 
• Northern leads the GLIAC in fewest turnovers/game (11.5), which is the third best mark in the country. The Wildcats are also 14th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.15) and 15th in FT percentage (77.4%). 
• As a team, NMU allows just 6.7 offensive rebounds/game to opponents, the fewest across conference teams. The 'Cats are second in the conference in rebounding margin (6.4). 
• After struggling from the three-point line a season ago where they went just 121-454 (26.7%), the 'Cats have made tremendous strides beyond the arc this season, as they are second in the GLIAC in made threes and percentage (190-564 - 33.7%). 
• Holzwart (3.2 assists/game) and Kuhn (2.7 assists/game) are one of two pairs of teammates in the league to be averaging 2.6+ assists/game each (Wayne State - Kate McArthur 4.0 and Shea Tripp 3.4). 
• The Green and Gold present a balanced scoring attack, as nine different 'Cats have recorded a double-digit output game this season.
• The Wildcats have lost the last 10 to GVSU with the last win a 47-38 victory on the road on March 9, 2019. Against the Panthers, NMU has won five straight.

Notes on Grand Valley State
The 24-2 overall and 15-1 in conference Lakers enter this week as the No. 2 ranked team in the country. Grand Valley has gone 15-0 at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena this season and are 9-2 away from its home floor. The Lakers are currently riding a nine-game winning streak.

Grand Valley averages 76.0 points/game which is first in the conference, while allowing just 48.9 points/game, the second best across the DII landscape. The Lakers rank second in the nation in scoring margin (27.8), 11th in field goal percentage (46.1%), and first in rebounding margin (12.2). The defense has surely been stingy, allowing opponents to shoot just 34.8% from the field and 26.2% from three. 

The Lakers present a balanced attack, with two averaging in double figures and seven contributing at least six points each game. Rylie Bisballe leads the way with 12.4/game, Megan Crow is shooting 63.2% (43-66) from the field, and Bisballe is averaging nearly seven rebounds/game while also contributing almost one block/game and one steal/game. 

In the prior meeting earlier this season, Northern fell 64-47. NMU led 23-11 late in the first quarter but were outscored 53-24 the rest of the way. After the hot start, the Grand Valley squad took over, holding NMU to 10-41 (24.4%) shooting in the final three frames. The paint was a key to success for Grand Valley, outrebounding NMU 42-35 and scoring 34 points in the paint to just 20 for the 'Cats. 


Notes on Davenport
The Panthers sit at 3-23 on the season and 1-15 in the GLIAC, dropping its last ten contests overall. Davenport is 1-10 on the road. The Panthers are shooting 35.4% from the field, 27.9% from three, and 62.2% from the charity stripe, all bottom three marks in the conference. 

Davenport has the second lowest scoring offense in the conference at 55.7 points/game. They are led by center Lillee Gustafson who is averaging 10.8 points/game to go along with 7.9 rebounds/game. 

In the last meeting between the two programs earlier this season, Northern won in a lopsided victory 73-47. NMU scored 23 straight points in the first and second quarters to get an early lead on Davenport and the Wildcats never looked back. Northern shot 43.3% from the floor and hit 10 triples. Makaylee Kuhn led the way with 23 points on 9-13 (69.2%) shooting, eight rebounds and five assists.