DULUTH, Minn. — The Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team prides itself on tough defense and it did a pretty good job showcasing that Saturday against Minnesota-Duluth.

However, offensive woes continue to plague the Wildcats as they fell 45-32 to the Bulldogs.

NMU was held to just 13 points in the first half and finished the game just 3 of 14 on 3-pointers. Erin Honkala was the only Wildcat to finish in double figures as she had 11 points to go with nine rebounds.

Duluth held a 13-4 lead in the first quarter before the Wildcats stopped the surge with a Jessica Schultz jumper and a Honkala layup, making the score 13-8 going into the second quarter. Things got worse for Northern in the next quarter, though, as the Bulldogs went on a 13-0 run to take a big 26-13 lead into the half.

UMD opened the third quarter with back-to-back layups, but Honkala dropped in a bucket to make it 30-15. Marquette Redettes alum Amber Huebner later knocked down a trey and Gwen Streblow made a layup to cut Duluth’s advantage to 34-20.

But the Bulldogs wouldn’t be denied as the Wildcats could only get as close as eight points in the final quarter.

Northern hosts St. Cloud State at noon Saturday in its home opener.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.