NMU faces Wisconsin-Parkside at 5:30 p.m. as the squads are two of the three tied for third place in the league. With four teams earning home court in the GLIAC opening round, two of those three at this point would earn the chance to play at home in early March.

The third team involved in the 7-4 tie is Wayne State as the Warriors actually have the best overall record of the three at 14-6 as Northern is 13-7 and Parkside is 12-7.

Ferris State leads the GLIAC at 10-1 (16-2 overall), while Grand Valley State is a close second at 9-1 (18-2 overall). And Michigan Tech is sixth, but only a game behind the Wildcats, at 6-5 (10-9 overall).

After their game against the Rangers today, NMU hosts Purdue Northwest (4-7, 9-12) at 11 a.m. Saturday. There is a poster signing scheduled for the Wildcat Room following Saturday’s game and all are welcome.

Northern Michigan University’s Mackenzie Holzwart, left, drives to the basket while defended by Ashland’s Lexi Howe during their nonconference women’s basketball game played at the PEIF gym in Marquette on Nov. 21. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Both games will be broadcast on WUPT 100.3 FM The Point, while fans can follow @NMU_WBBall and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game. Or you can visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s basketball schedule for links to ticket purchase information, game programs, series previews and history, and live statistics, video and audio.

Northern head coach Casey Thousand easily remembers good, spirited games against this week’s same two teams on the road just three weeks ago.

“When we traveled down there, it was two competitive games,” she said in an NMU Sports Information release previewing the contests. “These are always fun games and we have to be able to defend and take care of business like we can do.”

The Wildcats split their two games last week, falling at league-leading Ferris State 71-66 before picking up a 73-50 win over last-place Lake Superior State.

Against the Bulldogs, NMU jumped out to a 40-26 halftime lead only to have Ferris mount a huge comeback and take a 56-48 lead after the third quarter. Despite the third-quarter collapse, Northern still had the wherewithal to mount its own comeback and pull within 67-66 with just 23 seconds left before the Bulldogs made four free throws in the final seconds to seal the result.

Jacy Weisbrod paced the Wildcats with 17 points, while Sarah Newcomer added 16 including three 3-pointers and Makaylee Kuhn 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Two days later in Sault Ste. Marie, NMU had its way with Lake State, jumping out to leads of 22-13 after one quarter and 39-22 at halftime before coasting in the second half.

Led by Kuhn and Kayla Tierney with eight rebounds apiece, Northern had a big 44-25 advantage on the boards. Weisbrod led all scorers with 25 points as she hit six triples, while Kuhn added 18 points along with five assists.

Today’s opponent Parkside is 4-3 on the road, while Northern is 5-3 at home.

The Rangers are the top scoring team in the GLIAC at 74.9 points per game while allowing just 64.9 ppg. They also are tops in the league with 46.6% field goal success, which is also in the top 10 in the nation.

Paty Gallasova and Sheridan Flauger lead Parkside’s balanced scoring attack, with Flauger at 11.7 ppg and Gallasova at 11.4 ppg.

In NMU’s 83-76 win in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Jan. 20, Northern used a 28-6 second-quarter margin — the Wildcats highest single-quarter scoring output this season and also the fewest points allowed in a quarter — to build a big lead. Weisbrod scored her career-high 27 points after making 6 of 10 on 3s, while Kuhn had 20 points.

Purdue Northwest is seventh in the GLIAC, just a game ahead of eighth-place Saginaw Valley State, but three games ahead of the first team out of the tournament, 1-9 Davenport.

Purdue NW is 3-5 on the road, shooting 41.8% from the field, 31.6% on 3s and 74.2% on free throws. The Pride is seventh in league scoring at 61.6 ppg as Dash Shaw averages a league-leading 17.7 ppg. Forest Park graduate and PNW senior Mercedes Simmons is at 16.3 ppg and 8.9 rebounds a game, and she also leads the league with 54 blocked shots.

When they met on Jan. 18, an NMU 76-62 win, Northern held a 38-27 rebounding edge and outscored the Pride 17-0 on second-chance points. Weisbrod had what was on that day a career-high 24 points as she made 5 of 8 on triples.

Here are some other facts about the Wildcats as gleaned by NMU SI:

• Northern takes care of the ball as well as any team in the country, leading the GLIAC in fewest turnovers per game at 11.6, which is second best in NCAA Division II.

• With so few turnovers, the Wildcats are 11th in the country with a 1.19 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• NMU is also second in the conference in rebounding margin at plus-7.3 and third in free throw percentage at 76.1%. As a team, NMU allows just 5.9 offensive rebounds a game to opponents, the fewest in the GLIAC.

• Kuhn is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.6 ppg, and is fourth at seven rebounds per contest. She makes 81.7% on free throws (85 of 104), good for seventh in the GLIAC. She is a three-time All-GLIAC First Teamer and was named to the Preseason First Team in the fall.

• Ana Rhude ranks third in the conference with 24 blocks.

• After struggling from the 3-point line a season ago where they made just 26.7% (121 of 454), the ‘Cats have made tremendous progress this season, now second in the GLIAC in made 3s with 157 (out of 470 for 33.4%).

• Weisbrod leads the way from downtown, as she is tops in the GLIAC with 53 made 3s and has made at least one in all 17 games she has played. Newcomer isn’t far behind, making a triple in all but two games as her 38 triples is tied for third in the conference.

• Mackenzie Holzwart is averaging 7.2 ppg, 3.7 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game. She also leads the team with 19 steals. She is eighth in the GLIAC in assists and is first among conference guards in defensive rebounds with a 4.6 per-game average.

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The Green and Gold present a balanced scoring attack, as nine ‘Cats have recorded a double-digit point total in a game this season.

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