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SENIORS SHINE: NMU Basketball Gets Two Wins
 Stories and photos courtesy of NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO buttons to hear RRN post-game comments from women's coach Casey Thousand, men's coach Matt Majkrzak, and men's players Max Bjorklund and Max Weisbrod. Also hear player spotlight interviews with Ben Wolf, Bjorklund, Taya Stevenson, and Elena Alaix. MARQUETTE---The Northern Michigan University men's and women's basketball teams both celebrated Senior Day on Saturday with important wins over Purdue Northwest. The ladies posted a 65-61 win, and the men completed the weekend sweep with the 84-78 win. WOMEN'S GAME RECAP The Northern Michigan University women's basketball team (15-11, 10-7) had a nail biting competition against the Purdue-Northwest Pride (7-19, 3-13) squad on Saturday. The 'Cats outlasted the Pride in a 65-61 victory. Makaylee Kuhn led the team all-around with 31 points (11-16 shooting), seven rebounds, and two assists. The 31 points marked a season-high as she moved into ninth place in the all-time scoring list. Following behind her was Abi Fraaza with nine of her own. Mercedes Simmons paced the Pride with 20 points. NMU shot 22-55 (40.0%) from the floor while PNW was 24-55 (43.6%). On the 3-point line, the 'Cats made 3/7 (42.9%) and the Pride were 5/15 (33.3%). The first quarter put the Wildcats in high spirits based on their consistent lead against the Pride. Makaylee Kuhn led the team with eight points with her buckets while Mackenzie Holzwart was behind her with four points of her own. Heading into the second quarter, the Wildcats maintained a lead of five points with a score of 21-16. Buckets were continuous in the second quarter from Kayla Tierney, Anna Rhude, Holzwart, and Kuhn while Sarah Newcomer's triple from the bench made quite an impact about halfway through. A slow approach from the Pride had the Wildcats racing against the clock in the final minutes, and the home team found themselves behind, 35-34 at the break. With a point behind heading into the second half, the 'Cats had some tough competition in the third quarter. With PNW's strong defense, NMU finally caught up to them in the final minute. The largest lead of the quarter was the Pride's seven points. In the final quarter, the Wildcats came back stronger than ever.Kuhn was a fierce competitor with her 13 points, out of the 18 total made, added to the scoreboard. A four point lead earned the Wildcats the win against the Pride, 65-61. MEN'S GAME RECAP  Despite scoring 84, the 'Cats shot just 26-68 (38.2%) and 6-21 (28.6%) from three. The Pride had a better touch from the floor, going 24-51 (47.1%) and a hot 15-28 (53.6%) from deep. With the cold-shooting, NMU won the game down low, leading in points in the paint 40-18 and outrebounding the Pride 45-31, including 20-5 on the offensive glass. The attack on the offensive glass led to a 27-10 margin in second-chance points. The 'Cats also turned the ball over just three times, a season-low. It dropped the season average to 9.9/game, one of only nine DII schools to have a turnover mark under ten. On Senior Day, Max Bjorklund once again paced the Wildcat attack, going 10-10 from the charity stripe. Weisbrod went 8-9 from the line as the guard combo led the Wildcats down the stretch. The two combined for the six Wildcat triples on the day as well. Dylan Kuehl added eight points (all in the 2nd half) to go along with 11 rebounds. Mikell Cooper had a highlight day for the Pride, scoring 30 on 9-13 shooting. Up eight with 1:04 to go, the Wildcats would go a perfect 12-12 from the free-throw line to close the game. It would be needed, as PNW's Kai Steinman hit three triples in the last minute. The game was as close as four with 40 seconds left, but the clutch gene from Bjorklund and Weisbrod from the charity stripe put the game on ice.
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