Women's Basketball Earns 83-73 Overtime Win At Findlay

FINDLAY, OHIO – The Northwood University women's basketball team earned an 83-73 overtime road win over Findlay Thursday night (December 4).

It was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Northwood is now 3-2 overall, 1-0 in the GLIAC. Findlay falls to 3-1 overall, 0-1 in the GLIAC.

The win snapped the Timberwolves' five-game losing streak to the Oilers. NU's last win against Findlay was February 12, 2009.

The opening half was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than six points. Findlay eventually took a 31-30 lead to the locker room. The two teams shot nearly identically from the floor – NU finished at 40.7 percent (11-27) while Findlay ended up at 30.0 (12-30). The Oilers made two more 3-pointers in the half (5-3) while NU connected on three more free throws (5-2 in the half.

Northwood opened up a seven point lead (49-42) with 11:2 remaining in regulation, but the Oilers fought back to go up 61-58 with 3:35 remaining. Lauren Robak (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) connected on a 3-pointer to level the score at that point, setting up a close finish. With the game tied 63-63 with one minute remaining, both teams had multiple chance to take the lead but were unable to convert.

The Timberwolves dominated the overtime session right from the start. Northwood got a layup and two 3-pointers on their first three offensive possessions while earning three stops on defense to go up 71-63 in just 1:35. NU's offense in overtime was efficient in the extra frame, going 4-5 from the floor (80.0 percent), 2-3 from 3-point range (66.7 percent) and 10-11 from the foul line (90.9 percent).

For the game, Northwood finished at 41.0 percent overall (25-61) while Findlay finished at 41.3 percent (26-63). Both teams connected on seven 3-pointers. The key to the contest proved to  be the foul line, where Northwood went 26-30 (86.7 percent) compared to Findlay at 14-18 (77.8 percent).

Robak set a pair of Northwood school records on her way to scoring a career-high 34 points. She connected on 17 free throws on 20 attempts, both of which are NU single-game records. Gabrielle Rivette (Fenton, Mich.) finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six steals, while Sarah Susan (Grand Rapids, Mich./Byron Center) added 11. Kaitlin Susan (Grand Rapids, Mich./Byron Center) grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to lead all players.

Northwood will travel to Wayne State Sunday (December 7). Game time is set for 2 p.m.