Women's Basketball Loses To Urbana 71-67

The Northwood University women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 71-67 contest to Urbana Friday afternoon (December 28).

The contest was the opening game of the 2012 Wayne State Holiday Classic.

Northwood came out strong early on, hitting seven of their first 10 shots to lead by as many as 13 points in the opening eight minutes.  Urbana started the chip away at the lead for the rest of the half, but Northwood maintained a 32-26 lead at halftime.  Urbana shot a higher percentage than the Timberwolves (47.8-38.7), but Northwood had nine offensive rebounds to maintain their lead.

The Blue Knights shooting in the second half proved to be the difference.  Urbana shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes, while Northwood finished at 38.2 percent.  The game was tied 67-67, but Urbana's Ciara Geiger knocked down a triple with 36 seconds remaining to put the Blue Knights up for good.

For the game, Urbana shot 50.0 percent (25-50) while Northwood finished at 37.9 percent (25-66).  The 3-point line was a key part of the contest, as Urbana connected on six to just three for the Timberwolves.  NU made two of their first three attempts from beyond the arc but missed 11 of their final 12 triples of the game.  Northwood's 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds led to a 14-5 advantage for the Timberwolves in second chance points

Freshman Jordyn Nurenberg (St. Johns, Mich.) led the way for the Timberwolves off the bench with her best game at NU.  She finished with a career-high 19 points and to go with seven rebounds.  Kaitlin Susan (Grand Rapids, Mich./Byron Center) registered a double-double, totaling 11 points and 11 rebounds. Lauren Robak (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) finished with 11 points.

At the conclusion of the event, Nurenberg was named to the All-Tournament team. She averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games played.

Northwood will finish the tournament with a contest against UMSL Saturday afternoon (December 29).  Game time is set for 1 p.m.