Women's Basketball Sees Best Season In Program History Come To An End With 69-59 Loss At GVSU In Midwest Regional Final

OVERVIEW – #1 GRAND VALLEY STATE

SCORE: #1 Grand Valley State Lakers 69, #3 Northwood Timberwolves 59

RECORDS: Northwood 28-6, Grand Valley State 33-1

LOCATION: GVSU Fieldhouse Arena – Allendale, Mich.

RECAP: Third-seeded Northwood sees the best season in school history come to an end with a 69-59 loss at No. 1 seed Grand Valley State in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game Monday night (March 16).

GAME STORY

• The opening quarter was tightly played – the largest lead for either side was four points.
• Northwood scored the final basket of the opening quarter to lead 16-15 after one.
• Grand Valley State led 24-23 late in the second when the Lakers made the first push of the game. GVSU went on a 10-2 run to go up 34-25.
• NU got the final two points of the half to make the score 34-27 at the break.
• After falling behind 37-27 early in the third, Northwood made a push to get back into the game. The Timberwolves scored 13 of the next 16 points to cut the lead to two at 42-40 with 5:58 remaining.
• GVSU's lead was 52-46 in the closing seconds of the third when the Lakers connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from near halfcourt that made the score 55-46 heading to the fourth.
• Grand Valley State kept the momentum going after the buzzer-beater, scoring the first five points of the fourth to open up a 60-46 lead.
• GVSU pushed their lead to as many as 17 before Northwood fought back. NU used a 9-2 run to get within 10 at 69-59.
• The Timberwolves had a good look at a triple to get within seven with under two minutes remaining but it did not fall, giving the Lakers the Regional Championship.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Grand Valley State .519 (27-52), Northwood .490 (24-49)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Grand Valley State .250 (5-20), Northwood .188 (3-16)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Grand Valley State .833 (10-12), Northwood .727 (8-11)
• REBOUNDS: Grand Valley State 28 (Seven offensive), Northwood 24 (Five offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Grand Valley State 10/19, Northwood 13/21

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Maeve St. John: 14 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals
• Ella Miller: 13 points, 6-7 from the floor, 1-2 from 3-point range
• Lea Holmes: 12 points, 6-8 from the floor, two blocks

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• The Timberwolves' 28 wins are a school-record for victories in a season. The 2008-09 team won 21 games for the old record.
• Northwood's school-record 18 game winning streak came to an end with the loss.
• NU had never won an NCAA Tournament game prior to earning two victories this season.
• At the conclusion of the event, Holmes and St. John each were named to the All-Tournament team.