Women's Basketball Earns First NCAA Tournament Win In Program History - 61-57 Over Malone

OVERVIEW – MALONE

SCORE: #3 Northwood Timberwolves 61, #6 Malone Pioneers 57

RECORDS: Northwood 27-5, Malone 25-7

LOCATION: GVSU Fieldhouse Arena – Allendale, Mich.

RECAP: Third-seeded Northwood earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history with a 61-57 victory over sixth-seeded Malone Friday (March 13).

GAME STORY

• The opening quarter was tight throughout, with the largest lead for either side standing at four points.
• Northwood eventually held a 17-15 lead after one.
• With the score tied 19-19 in the second, the Timberwolves made the first significant run of the game. NU scored 11 straight to go up 30-19 with 4:28 remaining in the half.
• Malone responded with eight straight points to get within three at 30-27.
• NU scored the final two points of the second to send the game to the break with the Timberwolves on top 32-27.
• Malone came back to tie the score twice in the third but were unable to take the lead in the quarter.
• Northwood eventually finished the third on top 40-37.
• The Timberwolves pushed their lead to six early in the fourth before Malone connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score 46-46 with under seven minutes remaining.
• NU put up a 10-2 run at that point to go up 56-48 with four minutes to go.
• Malone did not go away, chipping away at the lead to get within three at 58-55.
• The Pioneers had a look at a 3-pointer with under 20 seconds remaining but were unable to connect.
• Northwood then closed out the win to advance to the second round.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Malone .349 (22-63), Northwood .411 (23-56)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Malone .300 (6-20), Northwood .320 (8-25)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Malone .875 (7-8), Northwood .779 (7-9)
• REBOUNDS: Malone 43 (17 offensive), Northwood 34 (Nine offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Malone 11/14, Northwood 12/14

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Maeve St. John: 20 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals
• Lea Holmes: 11 points, seven rebounds, four blocks, three steals
• Grace Isenhath: Nine points

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Entering the day, Northwood was 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament in program history, having lost opening round games in 2009 and 2021.
• NU went  4-0 against Malone this season. It marks the first time in program history Northwood has beaten a team four times in one year.
• The Timberwolves' 27th 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 17th straight win today. The old record was set in 1990-91 (10).
• While the game was close throughout, Malone's last lead of the game came with the score 8-5 in the opening period.
• In the four NU/MU matchups this season, Malone led for a total of 15:09. Northwood led for 138:08.

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will play the winner of the No. 2 seeded Ferris State and No. 7 seeded Missouri-St. Louis Saturday (March 14). Game time is set for 5 p.m.