Women's Basketball | 2/16/2017 9:03:00 PM

Box Score MIDLAND, Mich. – The Wayne State University women's basketball team (7-19 overall, 4-15 GLIAC) suffered another tough-luck setback at Northwood University (14-10, 11-8 GLIAC) Thursday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Warriors started strong at both ends of the court jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first 4:30 of the contest as senior Christina Green (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) had a conventional three-point play, before junior Payton Birchmeier (Corunna, Mich.) and sophomore Ja'Nae Williams (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) made baskets.  The Timberwolves went on an 11-8 run to end the first quarter to pull within four (15-11) after 10 minutes.

After Northwood cut its deficit to four (22-18) on a triple by Lindsay Orwat, WSU went on a 13-1 spurt over the next 3:20 to grab a 16-point advantage (35-19), its largest of the match, with 2:21 remaining before intermission.  NU's Maddy Seeley and Taylor Cramer connected from beyond the arc to end the first half scoring.  Wayne State led 35-25 at intermission after shooting 54 percent (14-of-26) from the field.

The Timberwolves made the first hoop of the second half, but a lay-up by junior Shannon Wilson (W. Bloomfield, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) and another old-fashioned three-point play by Green gave the Warriors a 40-27 lead.

Wayne State led 45-33 after Williams split a pair from the charity stripe with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter, but Northwood concluded the frame on a 9-3 run to pull within six (48-42).

Williams made two foul shots 66 seconds into the final stanza to push Wayne State's lead to eight (50-42).  A 7-0 run by the Timberwolves made it a one-point game (50-49) as Jordyn Nurenberg tallied four of NU's seven points during the spurt.  Freshman Nastassja Chambers (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Arbor Prep) had a conventional three-point play to increase the Warrior lead to four (53-49) with 5:37 left.  With just under 3:50 remaining, Chambers connected from three-point range giving WSU a six point lead (58-52).  A lay-up by Chambers with 1:56 left gave Wayne State a 60-57 advantage with 1:56 left.

Williams split a pair of free throws with 1:08 remaining extending the lead to two (61-59).  Northwood's last seven points came from the foul line despite repeated drives by the WSU players did not result in any free throw attempts until Nurenberg intentionally fouled Williams with Northwood leading 64-61 with 5.3 seconds left.

TEAM STATS

Wayne State shot 51 percent (23-of-45) from the floor, compared to 31 percent (18-of-58) for NU.  WSU was 4-of-6 (67 percent) from three-point range, while the Timberwolves shot 35 percent (9-of-26) from behind the arc.  The Warriors were just 11-of-19 (58 percent) from the charity stripe, with Northwood shooting 88 percent (21-of-24).

LEADING THE WARRIORS

Green led four Warriors in double figures with 13 points.  Williams, Wilson and Chambers each contributed 11 points with Williams tying Green for the team-high in rebounds with six.

LEADING NU

Nurenberg totaled a game-high 16 points, all in the second half.  Seeley added 14 points and Lindsay Orwat chipped in with 10 points.

UP NEXT

Wayne State will close out the road portion of its 2016-17 schedule with a 1 p.m. tip-off at Lake Superior State on Saturday.