Detroit – The Wayne State women's basketball team trimmed a 17 point second half deficit to just seven points, but it could not complete the comeback as Northwood hung on to defeat the Warriors 68-59 Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei.

A swarming Wayne State (2-9, 0-6 GLIAC) defense forced 25 Northwood (6-4, 2-4 GLIAC) turnovers, but the Timberwolves' 50 percent (20-for-40) shooting from the field and 24 successful foul shots proved too much to overcome.

Junior guard Chelsea Kouri (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) matched a season-high with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting while also collecting five rebounds. Freshman guard Tyler Hardy (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) was 4-for-6 from the field, finishing with 10 points. Freshman forward Deanna Crumpton (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) had four of Wayne State's 12 steals on the afternoon and sophomore guard Felicia Thomas (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) grabbed a team-high six rebounds, a season-best for the Kalamazoo Central product.

After trailing 6-2 to begin the game, WSU responded with six consecutive points as Kouri scored four points with freshman forward Chelsea Davis (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem) adding two points to give the Warriors an 8-6 lead heading into the first media timeout. Kouri led Wayne State with seven points and three rebounds in the first half.

Northwood fired back with eight straight points before freshman forward Latosha Beasley (Flint, Mich./Northern) hit a pair of free throws and Kouri connected on her first of three three-pointers to help pull WSU to within one point (14-13). After grabbing one of WSU's 21 offensive rebounds on the day, freshman guard Phaebre Colbert drew a foul and proceeded to make one foul shot to give the game its third tie at 14-14.

Less than a minute later, with the shot clock winding down Beasley came through with two points in the paint to push WSU up 16-14 with 8:19 remaining in the period. However, Northwood would quickly recover and end the half on a 15-6 run to take a 29-22 lead into halftime.

WSU came out of the break cold and shot just 3-for-13 to start the period. Northwood took full advantage of the shooting slump and opened up a 48-31 lead with 11:54 to play.

But the Warriors would battle back and come alive over the next 9:23 to shoot 9-for-13 from the field with Hardy and Kouri combining to score 12 points in a 22-12 run that made the score 60-53 with 2:31 remaining in regulation. The WSU defense turned up the intensity over this stretch and forced the Timberwolves into 10 turnovers.

However, Jodi Ostergren scored Northwood's final eight points down over the final two minutes to hault the Warrior comeback and preserve a 68-59 victory for the Timberwolves despite WSU scoring the game's final five poionts.

Ostergren scored a game-high 24 points for Northwood.

Wayne State will be on the road for the next two games starting with trip to Ohio to take on Findlay on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.