Women's Basketball Wins Wild 78-74 Contest Against Cedarville - Clinches Share Of G-MAC Regular Season Title

OVERVIEW – CEDARVILLE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 78, Cedarville Yellow Jackets 74

RECORDS: Northwood (20-5, 16-1 G-MAC), Cedarville (8-16, 3-13 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Women's basketball clinches a share of the Great Midwest regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming G-MAC Championship with a wild 78-74 win over Cedarville Saturday afternoon (February 14).

GAME STORY

• Cedarville, which entered the game on a nine-game losing streak, came out strong right away. The Yellow Jacket scored the first five points of the game and held the advantage the rest of the opening quarter.
• Northwood, which entered the game on a nine-game winning streak, trailed 22-11 after one quarter.
• The lead stayed between nine and 14 the remainder of the second quarter, which ended with CU on top 44-33.
• With Cedarville leading 54-40 with under four minutes to go in the third, the game turned into a series of huge runs for both sides. Northwood scored the final 12 points of the third to send to game to the fourth with the score 54-52.
• The Yellow Jackets responded with a great start to the fourth quarter, going on a 12-0 run of their own to lead 66-52 with under seven minutes remaining.
• The Timberwolves came right back with the third straight huge run, putting up 14 straight points in less than four minutes to tie the score 66-66.
• That NU run eventually reached 18-4, allowing the Timberwolves to lead 75-70 with under a minute remaining.
• Cedarville did not go away, cutting the lead down to two twice down the stretch before Northwood closed out the win.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Cedarville .509 (29-57), Northwood .450 (27-60)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Cedarville .381 (8-21), Northwood .250 (5-20)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Cedarville .706 (12-27), Northwood .667 (10-15)
• REBOUNDS: Cedarville 31 (11 offensive), Northwood 31 (12 offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Cedarville 18/21, Northwood 8/14

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Maeve St. John: 33 points (26 in the second half), five rebounds, four steals, three assists
• Lea Holmes: 18 points, nine rebounds, two blocks

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• The Timberwolves clinched a share of the championship by holding a three-game lead in the loss column with three games remaining. NU clinched the top seed thanks to Malone being the only team that can catch Northwood. The Timberwolves hold the tiebreaker over Malone thanks to NU going 2-0 against the Pioneers this season.
• This is the first regular season conference championship for either men's or women's basketball in Northwood history. Both teams have won division titles in the past, but not overall regular season titles.
• Northwood tied the school record for longest winning streak with their 10th straight win today. The 1990-91 team also won 10 consecutive games.
• This is the fifth time in school history Northwood has won 20 games (1989-90, 1990-91, 2008-09, 2023-24).

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday (February 21). Game time is set for 1 p.m.