Women's Basketball Opens Season With 86-78 Win Over Rival Saginaw Valley

OVERVIEW – SAGINAW VALLEY

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 86, Saginaw Valley State Cardinals 78

RECORDS: Northwood (1-0), Saginaw Valley (0-1)

LOCATION: O'Neil Arena – University Center, Mich.

RECAP: Led by a career-day by Jayla Strickland in her return to the lineup, Women's Basketball picks up an 86-78 win over rival Saginaw Valley to open the season Friday afternoon (November 10)

GAME STORY

• After Northwood scored the first four points of the game, the Cardinals were the better team the remainder of the first quarter. SVSU out-scored the Timberwolves 26-12 the rest of the quarter, giving Saginaw Valley at 26-16 lead after one.
• Northwood responded with a huge run to start the second quarter, putting up 24 of the first 26 points. That gave the Timberwolves a 40-28 lead with 2:50 remaining in the half.
• NU eventually led 43-34 at the break.
• SVSU started the third quarter strong, scoring the first eight points to cut the lead to one at 43-42.
• The Timberwolves were the better team the rest of the quarter, getting the lead back up to as many as 11 before settling for a 59-50 advantage heading to the fourth.
• Northwood got their lead up to 63-50 with under nine minutes remaining when the Cardinals made a run. SVSU got the lead all the way down to one at 66-65.
• With Northwood leading 74-71 with 3:30 to go, the Timberwolves finished strong. Six straight Timberwolves points got the lead back nine. Northwood got the advantage to as many as 11 before winning by eight.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .448 (30-67), Northwood .566 (30-53)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .292 (7-24), Northwood .438 (7-16)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Saginaw Valley .524 (11-21), Northwood .826 (19-23)
• REBOUNDS: Saginaw Valley 32 (14 offensive), Northwood 35 (Seven offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Saginaw Valley 9/11, Northwood 13/15

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Strickland: 24 points (career-high), seven rebounds, two steals, 11-13 from the floor
• Makenzie Todd: 21 points, 6-8 from the floor, 4-5 from 3-point range, three rebounds
• Maddie Voelker: 16 points, 7-7 from the foul line

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Strickland's previous career high was 17 points. She missed the entire 2022-23 season due to injury,

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will travel to Lake Superior State Saturday (November 11). Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.