Women's Basketball Earns Dramatic 55-53 Win Over Northern Michigan

OVERVIEW – NORTHERN MICHIGAN

SCORE:  Northwood Timberwolves 55, Northern Michigan Wildcats 53

RECORDS: Northwood (12-9, 9-7 GLIAC), Northern Michigan (15-8, 10-6 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood posts dramatic 55-53 win over Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (February 4).

FIRST QUARTER

• As the rest of the game would go, the opening quarter was extremely close. The largest advantage of the quarter for either team was four points.
• NU connected on a 3-poitner on their final possession of the quarter to take a 15-12 lead after one.
• Northwood shot 46.2 percent on their overall attempts (6-13), knocking down 33.3 percent of their shots from three-point range (2-6).
• Northern Michigan made 41.7 percent on their shots (5-12), going 0-for-2 from behind the arc.

SECOND QUARTER

• Northwood jumped out to what proved to be the biggest lead of the game at 22-16 with less than six minutes to go in the half
• The Wildcats went on a 10-0 run to grab a four-point lead with 1:30 remaining before taking a 26-25 lead at the break..        
• The Timberwolves shot 36.4 percent from the floor in the quarter (4-11), but hit 40 percent of their three-point shots (2-5).
• Northern Michigan shot with exactly the same rate of success as the first quarter, knocking down 41.7 percent of their shots (5-12), missing their only three-point attempt.

THIRD QUARTER

• The third quarter remained extremely close – there were five ties alone in the frame.
• Northwood held the biggest lead of the quarter of four points (35-31), but it would be Northern Michigan that lead 44-42 heading the fourth
• Both teams had their best shooting quarters of the game. Northwood knocked down 54.5 percent of their shots (6-11), including an impressive 75 percent from behind the arc (3-4).
• Northern Michigan sunk 50 percent of their attempts from the floor (8-16), including 40 percent from three-point range (2-5).

FOURTH QUARTER

• The score remained close the rest of the game – neither team led by more than four points in the fourth.
• NMU led 51-50 with just over two minutes to go when Northwood's Zakiya Wells connected on a 3-pointer before Emily Kutch made a layup to put NU up 55-51.
• Northern Michigan connected on one final field goal to cut the NU lead down to two but missed their final attempt as time expired to give the Timberwolves the win.
• Both teams struggled mightily in the final stanza from the floor. Northern Michigan shot just 20 percent (2-10), going 0-for-3 from three-point land.
• Northwood held the slim edge, sinking 31.3 percent of their shots (5-16), making 33.3 percent of their attempts from behind the arc (2-6).

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .400 (20-50), Northwood .412 (21-51)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .182 (2-11), Northwood .429 (9-21)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Northern Michigan .550 (11-20), Northwood .667 (4-6)
• REBOUNDS: Northern Michigan 40 (13 offensive), Northwood 27 (4 offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Northern Michigan 7/14, Northwood 15/7

GAME NOTES

• Two of the specialty stats were heavily in favor of each team. The Timberwolves outscored Northern Michigan off of turnovers 20-2, while NMU out-scored NU 13-0 on second-chance points.
• Northwood avenged a 70-50 loss at Northern Michigan earlier this season.

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Maddy Seeley: 17 points, two assists, 4-8 on three-pointers
• Jordyn Nurenberg: 12 points, 4 rebounds, two assists
• Zakiya Wells: 8 points, four assists, zero turnovers in 38 minutes

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will travel to Grand Valley State Thursday (February 9). Game time is set for 6 p.m.