Northwood Comes Back To Beat Bulldog Women

Midland, Mich. - Northwood University battled back from a big second half deficit to top Ferris State 68-62 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) women's basketball play on Saturday (Jan. 23) afternoon at the Bennett Sports Center in Midland, Mich.

The Bulldogs built a 15-point lead with 15:18 to go in the game, but the Timberwolves responded by outscoring FSU 36-29 over the final 20 minutes en route to the victory.

FSU shot only 22.6% (7-31) in the second half after shooting 47.8% (18-54) in the initial period.  Meanwhile, Northwood increased its shooting figure to 46.4% (13-28) in the final 20 minutes following a 30.8% (8-26) effort in the opening stanza.

Senior Pam Wilson led the Northwood attack with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double showing.  Jodi Ostergren also had a double-double for NU with 18 points and 11 boards while Megan Gonta chipped in with 11 points.

The Bulldogs placed three in double-figure scoring as junior guard Becci Houdek led the way with 16 points, sophomore guard Kelsey DeNoyelles added 15 points and sophomore guard Tricia Principe chipped in with 14 points.

FSU turned the ball over 17 times in the game and was outscored 24-12 in the paint by the Timberwolves.  NU also posted a 43-36 rebounding edge over the Bulldogs.

Overall, Ferris shot 33.3% (18-54) for the contest and was nine-of-17 (52.9%) beyond the arc along with 17-of-22 (77.3%) at the free throw stripe.

Northwood connected on 21-of-54 (38.9%) field goal attempts and four-of-14 (28.6%) three-point tries in addition to 22-of-32 (68.8%) free throws.

The game featured only two lead changes and the score was tied three times.  FSU held a 36-29 halftime advantage before the Timberwolves battled back and outscored the Bulldogs 39-18 over the final 15 minutes of the contest.

The loss was the third-straight on the road for the Bulldogs, who fell to 5-12 overall and 4-8 in GLIAC action.  NU also improved to 4-8 in the conference play with the win and is now 8-8 overall on the year.

Northwood's win was its fourth in the last six meetings versus FSU after the Timberwolves snapped a 24-game Bulldog series' winning streak back in 2008.  Ferris head coach Tracey Dorow also dropped to 21-4 in her heading career against the Timberwolves as FSU lost for the third time in the last four series' matchups.

FSU returns home for a four-game homestand at Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, beginning with next Thursday's (Jan. 28) league home tilt versus Northern Michigan starting at 6 p.m. (EST).