Northern Michigan University's Mackenzie Holzwart, right, looks to make a pass while being guarded by Northwood's Jayla Strickland in the second quarter of their GLIAC basketball game played at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Jan. 29. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

KENOSHA, Wis. — Somebody turn the heater on, please!

It might’ve felt like a cold day in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Saturday afternoon after the Northern Michigan University women’s basketball team survived a 47-35 victory over host Wisconsin-Parkside.

Both teams featured cold shooting, but the Wildcats’ edge in rebounding, turnovers and steals might’ve allowed them to escape with the win as they improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 after the first weekend of the GLIAC season. UWP slipped to 3-5 and 1-1.

NMU shot just 31 percent from the field — 20 of 64 — including 21 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 19), and weren’t any better at the free-throw line, making 3 of 9 for 33 percent.

The Rangers put up similar numbers — 33 percent from the field (14 of 42) and a paltry 6 percent on triples (1 of 17). Though they shot free throws well at 86 percent, that was only 6 of 7.

The big difference came in several ball-possession stats — Northern had a 40-33 edge in rebounds and 12-5 advantage in steals. The steals helped lead to 21 Parkside turnovers to just 10 for the Wildcats.

With all these struggles, NMU could count on its proven offensive force, Makaylee Kuhn.

She was the only player on either team to score in double figures with 18 points as she also grabbed eight rebounds and had two steals and two assists.

Next for NMU was Kayla Tierney with five points, though she was only 1 of 10 on 3s. And teammate Mackenzie Holzwart pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to go with four points.

For Parkside, Paty Gallasova led her team’s scorers with nine points, though she also committed five turnovers.

After Gallasova scored the game’s first points on a layup about 30 seconds in, NMU reeled off eight straight points for an 8-2 advantage as Vivianne Jende made a pair of layups.

With Northern leading 14-8 at the end of the opening quarter, scoring slowed to a snail’s pace in the second period. The Wildcats went nearly six minutes without a point, but still clung to a 14-13 lead before Kuhn hit a jumper with 4:12 left.

Kuhn added a layup and teammate Alyssa Nimz hit a 3 before halftime as Northern led 21-13 at the break.

The pace picked up a bit in the third and the Wildcats extended their lead into double digits several times before settling for a 34-25 edge entering the final quarter.

After Abi Fraaza hit a jumper not quite a minute into the fourth to make it 36-25, NMU’s lead remained at least at 10 points the rest of the way.

The Wildcats will try to up their offense with three home games remaining before the holiday break. NMU hosts Ferris State at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Lake Superior State at 3 p.m. Sunday in the GLIAC, then entertains Illinois-Springfield in a nonconference encounter at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.