Weisbrod Career-High Leads Northern Past Pride
This story was written by NMU Sports Information
HAMMOND, Ind. - Jacy Weisbrod scored a career-high 24 points in a 76-62 wire-to-wire victory for the Northern Michigan women's basketball team over Purdue Northwest on Thursday.
Weisbrod shot 7-11 from the floor including a 5-8 mark from three. She has now scored in double-figures in her last three in which she's averaging 17 points/game. Weisbrod added seven rebounds to help lead the way on the glass. Makaylee Kuhn was the other 'Cat in double-figures, scoring 20 to extend her all-time leading scoring mark at Northern. She shot 8-14 and also contributed seven boards.
NMU excelled on the glass, pulling down 38 rebounds to PNW's 27, including ten more on the offensive end. This led to a dominating 17-0 mark in second chance points. The teams had a similar shooting output, as Northern went 29-64 (45.3%) to PNW's 22-48 (45.8%).
With the victory, NMU improves to 11-5 on the season and 5-2 within conference competition.
Northern's all-time leading scorer Makaylee Kuhn got NMU on the board early and often, starting with an elbow jumper on the opening possession. She then cut to the basket the next trip down the floor for an easy layup. Not long after, Sarah Newcomer and Jacy Weisbrod added triples as Northern started 7-9 from the floor, leading to a ten-point lead, 16-6, just over five minutes into the game.
Weisbrod maintained the hot hand throughout the opening quarter, hitting two more from downtown to cross double figures and help propel the 'Cats to a 24-14 lead after one. She led the way with 11 points early on.
Kuhn became the second in double figures for the Green and Gold with a layup early in the second quarter. She would wind up scoring seven of the first nine for NMU in the quarter and then gave way to teammate Alyssa Nimz whole scored the next six. The two combined for 15 of NMU's 19 in the second to vault the Wildcats ahead 43-24 at the break. Kuhn paced all scorers with 17 points on an impressive 7-8 shooting mark in the first 20 minutes of gameplay.
The Pride had a positive start to the third, starting the stanza with a 10-4 run to close the gap to 13 points. Nearing the halfway point of the quarter, back-to-back layups from Newcomer and Abi Fraaza quickly swelled the lead back to 18, 54-36, four minutes shy of the final quarter. PNW would outscore the Wildcats 18-13 in the third, but trailed 56-42 with one quarter remaining.
Just once the Pride closed the game to 11 points early in the fourth, the closest it was in the second half, Weisbrod picked up an and-one to swing the momentum back in favor of the visitors. Roughly five minutes later and with less than four minutes to go, Weisbrod nailed a top of the key three with the shot clock expiring as the nail in the coffin.
The Wildcats will head to Kenosha, Wisconsin to take on one of the top team in the GLIAC in Parkside on Saturday, January 20 at 2 p.m. ET.
