Northern Michigan University’s Mackenzie Holzwart looks for a teammate to inbound the ball to during a GLIAC women’s game played against Grand Valley State at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Jan. 30. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — A quartet of Northern Michigan University women’s basketball players have shared in various postseason honors handed out in the aftermath of the Wildcats advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II national tournament for the second straight year.

Senior guard Mackenzie Holzwart of Howards Grove, Wisconsin, was named to the Midwest Region All-Tournament Team after the eight-team region’s championship game was held last week at Grand Valley State’s home gym in Allendale.

In this part of the national tourney, Holzwart led NMU with 13 points as she made 4 of 6 shots from the field and 4 of 5 at the free throw line in Northern’s 61-56 opening-game victory over Hillsdale. She also had eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Then in the Wildcats’ loss the next day to Ashland, she contributed nine points as she made 5 of 7 free throws.

For the season, she averaged 6.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and in 112 career games for NMU, she averaged quite similar numbers — 6.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals a contest.

A few days before that, Northern junior guard Jacy Weisbrod of La Crosse, Wisconsin, was named to the Second Team all-region by the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association, following a top honor in postseason awards from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Sports information directors from Division II Midwest Region schools and conferences select the D2CAA all-region teams, with honorees advancing for All-American consideration to be announced near the end of this month.

Weisbrod drew that notice after she was named to the All-GLIAC First Team following her honor on the league’s Second Team a year prior.

Weisbrod led the GLIAC in 3-pointers and was ninth in the nation at 2.9 made per game while also finishing second in shooting those long-range shots at 39.6%. Eleventh in scoring in the league at 13.4 points per game, she made at least three triples in 15 games, including a season-high seven in the final game of the regular season at Purdue Northwest.

She also averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, and over the final nine games of the regular season when NMU won eight of them, she averaged 14.3 ppg while shooting 46.1% from the field and 41.9% on 3s.

Senior forward Abi Fraaza of Birnamwood, Wisconsin, was named both GLIAC Sixth Woman of the Year for the season and landed a spot on the GLIAC All-Tournament team after the Wildcats were eliminated in the semifinals by Ferris State in an event held in Allendale.

For the Sixth Woman award named to honor the league’s top reserve, Fraaza came off the bench 15 times in the regular season, averaging 8.9 ppg and 5.4 rebounds each outing while shooting an efficient 65.3% (49 of 75). That shooting percentage would’ve easily led the conference, but her attempts fell just short of the league minimum to be considered.

She also made 77.8% on free throws (35 of 45) playing primarily out of the low post as she averaged 1.7 assists a game with multi-assist games in each of her last five games of the regular season.

Finally, junior guard Sarah Newcomer of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, was named to the All-GLIAC Second Team, earning a conference honor for the first time. She recorded 9.3 ppg, 2.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals a game in the regular season while making 2.0 triples per game, ranking fifth in the GLIAC in that category.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases about the team’s honors. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.