CHAMPIONS!!!! - Women's Basketball Earns Outright G-MAC Championship With 82-69 Win Over Kentucky Wesleyan

OVERVIEW – KENTUCKY WESLEYAN

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 82, Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers 69

RECORDS: Northwood (21-5, 17-1 G-MAC), Kentucky Wesleyan (14-11, 10-9 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Women's basketball earns the outright G-MAC Championship, winning their eleventh straight overall in an 82-69 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday (February 21).

GAME STORY

• The opening quarter was evenly played throughout. Northwood's 14-8 lead was the largest lead for either side.
• Northwood held a 17-16 after one.
• Kentucky Wesleyan took the lead at 26-24 for a total of 19 seconds.
• That lead proved to be the lone advantage of the contest, as Northwood responded with 11 straight points to take a 35-26 lead with 3:51 remaining.
• Northwood pushed their lead to 43-32 at the break, which was their largest of the opening half.
• The Panthers cut the lead down to 51-44 with 3:24 remaining when the Timberwolves made a run to take control. NU scored 15 of the next 20 points to go up 66-49.
• NU held a 66-52 lead heading to the final quarter.
• KWC got no closer than 11 in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves led by as many as 18 before winning by 13.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Kentucky Wesleyan .409 (27-66), Northwood .525 (31-59)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Kentucky Wesleyan .250 (7-28), Northwood .321 (9-28)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Kentucky Wesleyan .667 (8-12), Northwood .846 (11-13)
• REBOUNDS: Kentucky Wesleyan 38 (14 offensive), Northwood 32 (Five offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Kentucky Wesleyan 12/18, Northwood 10/13

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lexie Bowers: 25 points, 7-15 from 3-point range
• Lea Holmes: 22 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, 10-14 from the floor
• Maeve St. John: 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals
• Grace Isenhath: Nine points, three rebounds, two steals

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• 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 broke the school record for longest winning streak with their 11th straight win today. The 1990-91 team won 10 consecutive games.
• The Timberwolves have now tied the school record for wins in a season with their 21st victory of the year. The 2008-09 team also won 21 games.
• Northwood's 17 conference wins this season are the most in a season in program history. The 2023-24 team finished the year with 16 for the previous record.
• St. John set the school record for free throws in a season, having now made 142 this year. The old record of 140 was set by Savannah Stedman in 2011-12.
• Bowers' seven 3-pointers in the game are tied for the most in the G-MAC for an individual player. Reagan Hubert of Cedarville made seven triples against Ursuline, which also happened today.
• Northwood led for 34:58 in the game and trailed for just 19 seconds.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves host Tiffin Thursday (February 26). Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.