Women's Basketball Defeats No. 21 Grand Valley State 60-53

OVERVIEW – GRAND VALLEY STATE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 60, #21 Grand Valley State, 53

RECORDS: Northwood (7-6, 4-4 GLIAC), Grand Valley (11-3, 5-3 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood uses a strong defensive effort to earn a 60-53 win over No. 21 Grand Valley State Thursday night (January 12).

FIRST QUARTER

• It was all Timberwolves on both sides of the ball early on, scoring the first ten points of the game while holding the Lakers scoreless for the first 5:07 of the contest. The visitors would quickly cut the deficit to four with an 8-2 run, before Northwood rattled off an 8-3 run to lead 20-13 after one.
• Northwood shot 38.9 percent from the floor (7-18), compared to Grand Valley at 40.0 percent (4-10). The home team got their lead from behind the arc, making 57.1 percent from three (4-7) compared to the Lakers at 20.0 percent (1-5). NU also grabbed the only four offensive rebounds of the quarter

SECOND QUARTER

• The Lakers came out strong in the second, scoring10 of the first 13 points of the quarter to cut the NU lead to 23-21. The game would stay close until the end of the stanza, with Northwood taking a 30-27 lead at the break.
• The Timberwolves took ten less shots from the first period, but made 50 percent of them (4-8) to preserve their lead. The Lakers shot 38.5 percent of their attempts from the field (5-13).

THIRD QUARTER

• The Timberwolves came out with a purpose in the third, extending their lead to 44-32 less than four minutes into the second half. The advantage would grow to as many as 13 before NU took a 49-38 lead to the fourth quarter.
• The Timberwolves had their best shooting performance in the third, knocking down 53.8 percent of their shots from the field (7-13). The Lakers struggled in the third, making just 25.0 percent of their attempts (4-16).

FOURTH QUARTER

• Grand Valley hung around in the fourth quarter, eventually cutting the lead to four with 31.6 left at 55-51. NU finished off the victory by scoring five of the final six points.
• The best shooting quarter (5-11 – 45.5 percent) for Grand Valley came in the fourth quarter. Northwood had their worst shooting quarter of the contest (22.2 percent – 2-9) but made 87.5 percent of their free throws to clinch the victory (7-8).

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Northwood .408 (20-49), Grand Valley .360 (18-50)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Northwood .429 (6-14), Grand Valley .190 (4-21)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Northwood .824 (14-17), Grand Valley .765 (13-17)
• REBOUNDS: Northwood 38 (8 offensive), Grand Valley 27 (5 offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Northwood 7/18, Grand Valley 7/17

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lindsay Orwat: 19 points (matches her career-high),  6-10 from field, 6-6 on free throws
• Jordyn Nurenberg: 11 points (5-6 on free throws), one block, three steals, six rebounds
• Hannah Orwat: 10 points (season-high)

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood outscored Grand Valley off of turnovers 18-7 in the game.
• The Timberwolves beat the Lakers for the third time at home in four seasons since 2013.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will travel to Ferris State on Saturday (January 14). Game time is set for 1 p.m.