Women's Basketball Falls At Walsh 79-74

CANTON, OHIO – The Northwood University women's basketball team dropped a tough 79-74 contest at Walsh Thursday night (December 10).

Northwood falls to 5-4 overall, 1-2 in the GLIAC. Walsh improves to 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the GLIAC.

After Walsh got off to a good start, Northwood ended the first quarter strong.  The Cavaliers led 12-6, but the Timberwolves finished the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 19-14 lead after one. Walsh finished the quarter with a higher field goal percentage (53.8-43.8), but NU made two more 3-pointers (2-0) and three more free throws (3-0) to earn the lead.

The second quarter was tight throughout but Northwood led for all but 16 seconds when the game was tied. NU led by as many as six before taking a 40-36 lead to the locker room. Both teams offenses were strong in the quarter – NU shot 60.0 percent (9-15) and scored 21 points, while Walsh shot 50.0 percent (8-16) and scored 22 points.

With the Timberwolves battling foul trouble, the NU bench was key to extending the Northwood lead in the third quarter. With the Timberwolves leading 47-43 with 4:34 remaining in the third, NU had five bench players on the court but was able to get the lead up to as many as nine before the fourth quarter. A last-second basket by Delaney Kenny (Clarkston, Mich.) gave Northwood a 56-49 lead heading to the fourth.

Walsh's red-hot offense in the fourth was the key to the win for the Cavaliers. WU shot 80.0 percent from the floor in the fourth (12-15) and went 2-3 from 3-point range en route to scoring 30 points in the final 10 minutes. Despite those shooting numbers, Northwood had the ball down two with less than two minutes to go and had a potential game-tying layup blocked. The Cavaliers scored the next five points to put the game away.

For the contest, Northwood shot 45.9 percent (28-61) while Walsh ended up at 57.1 percent (32-56). Both teams connected on seven 3-pointers in the game. Both teams also struggled at the foul line – Northwood ended up 11-19 (57.9 percent) while Walsh finished 8-17 (47.1 percent).

Jordyn Nurenberg (St. John's, Mich.) led the way for Northwood once again, finishing with 20 points on 7-12 shooting. Lauren Robak (Clarkston, Mich.) ended up with 16.

Northwood will play its final game of 2015 at Malone Saturday (December 12). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.