'Cats Come Back, End AU Women's Win Streak
January 22, 2004

Some say cats have nine lives. Preposterous? Would you believe in this instance in 14 lives?

The Northern Michigan Wildcats trailed by 14 points with 8:22 to go in the first half against the Ashland University women’s basketball team Thursday (Jan. 22) night in Marquette, MI. But like most felines, these Wildcats ended up landing on their feet. They stormed back to trail by five points at halftime and in the second half, outscored the Eagles, 54-44 on the way to a 95-90 triumph.

The loss breaks a seven-game Ashland win streak and leaves the Eagles at 14-4, 5-3 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. NMU is 14-2 and 6-2. In this week’s NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional rankings, Ashland is sixth and the Wildcats are seventh.

Northern Michigan has never lost to Ashland. The Wildcats now lead the series, 11-0. At home, on the road and on a neutral court, the Eagles have had their difficulties with the ‘Cats.

The early stages of Thursday’s game belonged to the Eagles. AU shot out to a 12-5 lead after five minutes and with 10:23 to go in the half, Ashland led, 26-15. Two free throws by freshman guard Amber Rall gave the Eagles that 14-point spread, their largest advantage of the night.

The NMU comeback started late in the first half. First, the ‘Cats got the AU spread down to 46-41 at halftime. That’s quite an accomplishment because over the first 20 minutes, AU shot 59.4 percent (19-32) from the floor and outrebounded the home team, 23-17. Junior center Jackie Mason led that charge with 11 points and 11 boards in the first half and Rall had 11 first-half points.

Northern Michigan finally got its head above water with 15:08 left to play, taking a 57-55 lead on a layup by Tiffany Grubaugh. Over the first five minutes of the second half, NMU outscored the Eagles, 16-11. Ashland’s last lead came with 11:49 to play, 67-65. NMU tried to run away and hide, building a 10-point lead with 4:33 remaining in regulation. The Eagles cut that down to two points, 88-86, when senior guard Isolina Bresica nailed a jumper with 2:03 to play.

AU was only behind by two points, 92-90 with 22 ticks left when Emily Samuelson canned one of two free throws to make it 93-90, NMU. Samuels redeemed herself for that miss on AU’s next possession. She stole a Rall pass and hit two free throws with six seconds left to seal the victory.

Grubaugh did most of the damage for the Wildcats, finishing with 26 points. Andrea Brooke had 20 points and Samuelson had 18. Michelle Moard came off the bench to contribute 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ashland struggled to control the NMU inside game – the Wildcats outscored the Eagles, 28-18 in the paint and 11-4 in second-chance opportunities.

Mason finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Rall and sophomore guard Dee Bethune had 18 points apiece, senior forward Alanna Buurma had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Brescia had 11 points.

Ashland shot 56.9 percent from the field (37-65) for the game, compared to 47.2 percent (34-72) for NMU. Turnovers hurt the Eagles – AU gave the ball away 23 times compared to 15 for Northern Michigan. The teams were even on the boards, collecting 38 rebounds each.

Ashland winds up its trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Saturday with a game at Lake Superior State. The Lakers are ranked second in the region, trailing only Quincy out of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.