Northern Michigan women’s basketball comes up short against #21 Michigan Tech

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The NMU women’s basketball team (10-6, 5-2) came up short against the No. 21 Michigan Tech Huskies (14-3, 6-1) on Saturday at the Berry, falling 69-56. Makaylee Kuhn led all scorers with 24 points on 10-17 shooting. The ‘Cats never led in the contest and trailed by as many as 15. Despite getting the deficit to six points in the fourth quarter, NMU could not stop the Huskies when needed. Mackenzie Holzwart also had an efficient offensive display with 16 points. The Huskies had four in double figures led by Ellie Mackay with 19 points. NMU went 21-55 (38.2%) from the floor while MTU was 26-54 (48.1%).

The Huskies started on a 7-0 run. The ‘Cats were cold from the floor early, missing nine straight shots after the opening tip. The first Northern points came at the FT line and the first field goal came on an Andrea Perez putback with less than three minutes left in the opening quarter. NMU trailed 16-7 after 10 minutes, shooting just 2-14.

Michigan Tech built a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and despite a wake-up call from the offense, the Huskies continued to maintain a lead heading into halftime, up 30-18. After just four first-half points, Makaylee Kuhn dominated the third quarter, scoring 11 of NMU’s 17 to help the Wildcats keep it close, 46-35, heading to the final frame.

The Green and Gold continued to claw back in the contest in the fourth. A Holzwart triple brought it all the way down to six points just a few minutes into the final quarter. Sara Dax made sure the Wildcats would not get all the way back, as she knocked down a triple followed by a baseline jumper to stretch the margin right back to 11 points. Despite shooting 9-16 for 22 points in the final quarter, the Wildcats could not get stops when needed, as the Huskies went 7-10 from the floor and scored 23 fourth-quarter points to win 69-56.

NMU will remain home next week with Grand Valley State and Davenport coming to town. The Lakers and Wildcats will tip off on Thursday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m.