Women's Basketball Earns Important 85-81 Win Over Hillsdale

OVERVIEW - HILLSDALE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 85, Hillsdale Chargers 81

RECORDS: Northwood (12-11, 11-5 G-MAC), Hillsdale (16-8, 13-4 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena – Hillsdale, Mich.

RECAP: Northwood women's basketball rides explosive second quarter to key 85-81 road win over Hillsdale Saturday afternoon (February 15).

GAME STORY

• The opening quarter was tightly contested, with the largest lead coming right at the start of the game when Northwood put up the first five points.
• Hillsdale eventually took a 21-18 lead after one quarter.
• The Timberwolves took the lead for good for the remainder of the half at 26-25.
• Northwood was the better team the remainder of the half, pushing their advantage to 52-39 at the break.
• Both teams shot the ball well in the second, but it was NU's offense that put up 34 points in the quarter. The Timberwolves were 14-19 from the floor (73.7 percent) and 5-9 from 3-point range (55.6 percent) in the quarter.
• The Chargers made a few pushes in the third quarter, but Northwood maintained at least a three-possession lead throughout. The advantage was 70-62 heading to the final quarter.
• After a 3-pointer for Northwood to open the fourth, the Timberwolves' offense went cold for the first time in the game. NU scored just one point in the next 4:40, during which the Chargers out-scored Northwood 10-1 to cut the lead down to 74-73 with 5:28 remaining.
• Hillsdale took the lead at 79-78 and led 81-79 with just over a minute remaining when the Timberwolves finished strong. Northwood scored the final six points of the game. NU went 4-4 from the foul line and made their only field goal attempt while holding the Chargers scoreless to claim the victory.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Hillsdale .452 (33-73), Northwood .533 (32-60)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Hillsdale .238 (5-21), Northwood .414 (12-29)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Hillsdale .556 (10-18), Northwood .692 (9-13)
• REBOUNDS: Hillsdale 45 (20 offensive), Northwood 25 (Four offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Hillsdale 17/14, Northwood 19/13

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Maddie Voelker: 22 points, five rebounds, 8-10 from the floor, 6-8 from 3-point range
• Maeve St. John: 18 points, eight rebounds, five steals, four rebounds
• Lea Holmes: 14 points, four rebounds, three blocks
• Ella Miller: 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, 5-6 from the floor

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• With two weeks left in the regular season, the race for a top-four seed and a home game in the G-MAC Tournament is tight. Malone (three losses), Hillsdale (four losses), Findlay (five losses) and Northwood (five losses) are all within two games of each other. Three of those four teams will host an opening round tournament game.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host Ursuline Thursday (February 20). Game time is set for 6 p.m.