CHAMPIONS!!!! Women's Basketball Earns Tournament Title 64-53 Over Malone

OVERVIEW – MALONE

SCORE: #1 Northwood Timberwolves 64, #2 Malone Pioneers 53

RECORDS: Northwood 26-5, Malone 25-6

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Top seeded Northwood women's basketball earns it first Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in program history with a 64-53 win over No. 2 seed Malone 64-53.

GAME STORY

• For the second straight game, Northwood got off to a fast start, going up 13-4 just over four minutes into the contest.
• Malone responded with a run of their own, scoring nine straight points to get within two at 13-11.
• Northwood held a 19-14 lead after one.
• The Timberwolves used a 13-2 run in the second quarter to open up their biggest lead of the day at 36-20.
• The Pioneers scored the final four points of the half to send the game to the break with NU on top 36-24.
• Malone kept that late momentum going early in the second half, eventually going on an 18-2 run to tie the score 38-38 with 3:21 to go.
• The scored remained tied for 30 seconds, as Northwood immediately went back on top for good thanks to a 12-1 run to finish the quarter to go up 50-39 heading to the fourth.
• NU maintained control throughout the fourth, pushing their lead to as many as 15. The Pioneers got no closer than seven in the final period.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Malone .354 (23-65), Northwood .411 (23-56)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Malone .176 (3-17), Northwood .200 (3-15)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Malone .444 (4-9), Northwood .833 (15-18)
• REBOUNDS: Malone 34 (11 offensive), Northwood 41 (Nine offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Malone 13/14, Northwood 9/17

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lea Holmes: 19 points, eight rebounds
• Maeve St. John: 11 points, three assists, three rebounds
• Karie Keefer: 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood took home both the regular season and tournament championships this season, the first of each in program history.
• Holmes reached the 1,000-point milestone in the game, now standing with 1,011 points. She is the first player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark in their sophomore season.
• The Timberwolves' 26th win extended the program record for victories in a season. The 2008-09 team won 21 games for the old record.
• Northwood also extends school record for longest winning streak with their 16th straight win today. The old record was set in 1990-91 (10).
• Northwood led for 38:49 of the game. Malone did not lead at any point.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves have now earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced Sunday night (March 8) at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com