Women's Basketball Defeats Wayne State 58-49

OVERVIEW – WAYNE STATE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 58, Wayne State Warriors 49

RECORDS: Northwood (9-17, 7-11 GLIAC), Wayne State (14-12, 8-10 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood women's basketball controlled the second half while earning a 58-47 win over Wayne State Thursday night (February 20).

FIRST QUARTER

• The offenses struggled early in the game, as the score was just 6-4 five minutes in to the contest.
• WSU led by four early on before the Timberwolves eventually took a 11-9 lead after one.
• Wayne State and Northwood each made four field goals in the first quarter – NU did it on 11 attempts (36.4 percent) while WSU had 19 field goal attempts.
• The Warriors earned the extra attempts thanks to six offensive rebounds and forcing Northwood into five turnovers.

SECOND QUARTER

• The score was tied 19-19 with under three minutes remaining when the Warriors made a push.
• WSU scored 10 of the final 13 points of the half to take a 29-22 lead at the break.
• Wayne State had a good quarter on the offensive end in the second, going 8-18 overall (44.4 percent), 2-4 from 3-point range (50.0 percent) and 2-2 from the foul line.
• Northwood went 4-12 from the floor in the second (33.3 percent) but did make 3-5 from 3-point range (60.0 percent).

THIRD QUARTER

• The third quarter was the key part of the game, as the Timberwolves controlled the quarter.
• After trailing 34-27 with 7:29 remaining, Northwood out-scored the Warriors 19-4 the remainder of the way to take a 46-38 lead after three quarters.
• Northwood's shooting percentage took a big upturn in the third, improving to 60.0 percent overall (9-15) and 4-7 from beyond the arc (57.1 percent).
• The Warriors fell back to 33.3 percent overall (4-12) and from 3-point range (1-3).

FOURTH QUARTER

• Northwood got the lead up to nine on a pair of occasions, but the Warriors hung around.
• WSU got the lead down to four at 53-49 with 2:59 to go before the Timberwolves finished the game strong to earn the win.
• Both teams struggled from the floor in the final quarter – NU finished at 3-11 overall (27.3 percent) while the Warriors went 3-14 (21.4 percent).
• Northwood did shoot it well from the foul line, making 5-6 in the final 10 minutes (83.3 percent).

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Wayne State .302 (19-63), Northwood .408 (20-49)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Wayne State .235 (4-17), Northwood .409 (9-22)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Wayne State .857 (7-8), Northwood .692 (9-13)
• REBOUNDS: Wayne State 43 (18 offensive), Northwood 33 (Six offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Wayne State 8/18, Northwood 16/17
• POINTS IN THE PAINT: Wayne State 28, Northwood 20
• POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: Wayne State 14, Northwood 14
• SECOND CHANCE POINTS: Wayne State 14, Northwood 5
• FAST BREAK POINTS: Wayne State 6, Northwood 4
• BENCH POINTS: Wayne State 5, Northwood 21

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Hunter Viitala: 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals
• Makenzie Todd: 13 points
• Brooke Ditto: Eight points, seven rebounds

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host No. 2 Ashland Saturday (February 22). Game time is set for 1 p.m.