Women's Basketball Earns 65-62 Road Win Over Rival Saginaw Valley

OVERVIEW – SAGINAW VALLEY

SCORE:  Northwood Timberwolves 65, Saginaw Valley State Cardinals 62

RECORDS: Northwood (15-10, 12-8 GLIAC), Saginaw Valley (20-6, 16-4 GLIAC)

LOCATION: O'Neill Arena – University Center, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood rallies from early 15-point deficit with a big second half to earn a 65-62 road win over Saginaw Valley Saturday afternoon (February 18).

FIRST QUARTER

• Northwood's offense struggled in the opening quarter. After making two of their first five shots from the floor, the Timberwolves missed their final eight shots. NU went 0-11 from the perimeter in the quarter.
• SVSU, on the other hand, was strong offensively. The Cardinals shot 60 percent from the floor (6-10) to open up a 20-8 lead after one quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• Northwood's offense performed at a higher level in the second quarter, allowing them to cut into the lead.
• The Timberwolves scored 14 of the final 20 points of the quarter to make the score 31-24 at the break.
• Northwood shot 46.7 percent from the floor (7-16) but finished the opening half just 1-10 from 3-point range.
• Saginaw Valley finished the second quarter making 50.0 percent (4-8) of their field goal attempts.

THIRD QUARTER

• Northwood continued to fight its way back into the game in the third quarter.
• After trailing by 15 early in the second quarter, Northwood got the lead all the way down to one at 40-39 with four minutes remaining in the third.
• SVSU eventually took a 46-43 lead to the fourth quarter.
• Northwood's shooting picked up to 50.0 percent in the third (6-12) as well as 42.9 percent from 3-point range (3-7).
• Saginaw Valley finished at 33.3 percent in the third (5-15).

FOURTH QUARTER

• Northwood took its first lead of the game at 51-50 with 3:23 remaining.
• NU used a 11-0 run in less than three minutes to go up 58-50 with under two minutes remaining.
• SVSU would not go away, cutting the lead down to as little as one point in the final seconds but the Timberwolves held on for the win.
• Northwood had their best offensive quarter of the game in the fourth, shooting 54.5 percent (6-11) overall while making 2-3 from beyond the arc.
• The Cardinals went 4-14 from the floor in the fourth (28.6 percent) but did go 6-6 from the foul line to stay close.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .404 (19-47), Northwood .412 (21-51)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .357 (5-14), Northwood .300 (6-20)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .760 (19-25), Northwood .739 (17-23)
• REBOUNDS: Saginaw Valley 31 (four offensive), Northwood 28 (five offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Saginaw Valley 14/14, Northwood 13/11

GAME NOTES

• Saginaw Valley was undefeated at home on the year (11-0) and had won 15 straight home games prior to Northwood's win.
• Turnovers were fairly even for the game (NU – 11, SV – 14), but Northwood out-scored SVSU 20-6 in points off turnovers.

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Zakiya Wells: 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds, one turnover in 38 minutes
• Jordyn Nurenberg: 13 points, seven rebounds
• Lindsay Orwat: 14 points
• Emily Kutch: 10 points (season-high)

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host Lake Superior State Thursday night (February 23) to round out the regular season. Game time is set for 6 p.m.