Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan women's basketball team experienced a setback on Thursday night, falling to the Michigan Tech Huskies with a final score of 64-59. This defeat ended their five-game winning streak.

The rivalry between these Upper Peninsula teams was intense, with both sides taking turns leading the game. A crucial 12-0 run by Michigan Tech at the transition between the third and fourth quarters proved decisive in overcoming the Wildcats.

The game began evenly matched at 15-15 after the first quarter. However, Michigan Tech pulled ahead in the second quarter, outscoring Northern Michigan 23-10 and establishing a halftime lead of 38-25. The Wildcats responded strongly after halftime, achieving a 12-point streak and outscoring their opponents 21-6 in the third quarter to secure a narrow 46-44 lead going into the final period. Despite closing the gap to just one point multiple times in the last minutes, Northern Michigan could not overtake their rivals.

Both teams shot 39.3% from the field; however, free throws were where Michigan Tech excelled, making 15 out of 17 attempts compared to Northern's four out of six.

Abi Fraaza led Northern Michigan off the bench with an impressive season-high of 18 points on seven-for-ten shooting, alongside six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Jacy Weisbord added another 16 points for her team. For Michigan Tech, freshman Kendall Standfest was among three players scoring in double figures with her contribution of 15 points.

With this result, Northern Michigan's record stands at 18-7 overall and 12-5 within their league. Meanwhile, this victory improved Michigan Tech's record to 11-14 overall and an intra-league standing of eight wins against nine losses.

The strategy for both teams initially focused on scoring inside early on during the game as all initial points came from within close range except for one successful long-range attempt by Tech near the end of first-quarter play.

In upcoming matches marking its final regular-season road trip before playoffs begin next week—Northern will visit Roosevelt followed by away games against Purdue Northwest then Parkside—all part of concluding lengthy travel plans currently underway.