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Northwood's Jayla Strickland dribbles down the court during a game against SVSU Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 at Northwood. (Adam Ferman/for the Daily News)
Photo: (Adam Ferman/for The Daily News)Northwood's Jayla Strickland dribbles down the court during a game against SVSU Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 at Northwood. (Adam Ferman/for the Daily News)
Northwood's Jayla Strickland dribbles down the court during a game against SVSU Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 at Northwood. (Adam Ferman/for the Daily News)
Northwood's Jayla Strickland dribbles down the court during a game against SVSU Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 at Northwood. (Adam Ferman/for the Daily News)
Northwood roared back from double-digit deficits twice on Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, that roar turned into a whimper over the final couple of minutes.
Saginaw Valley State watched leads of 18 points in the first half and 14 points in the second half both slip away, but the Cardinals executed better in crunch time and held off the archrival Timberwolves for a 76-72 win in GLIAC women's basketball at Riepma Arena.
SVSU improves to 3-4, while Northwood slips to 4-3.
NU coach Jeff Curtis said his team was unlucky offensively and undisciplined defensively.
“I felt we had plenty of opportunities. I thought we had really good shots by really good shooters, especially early on, that weren’t falling," Curtis said. "We’re going to have games where the ball doesn’t seem to want to find the basket, and I think the really good teams find a way to win even on those nights. You’ve got to find a way.
“We still scored 72 points, and I thought we were off offensively. The problem for us right now is not the offensive end of the floor. We’ve got to find a way to defend better," he added. "I thought tonight we made a lot of mistakes, and a lot of them were discipline mistakes. … They scored easily off of our mistakes. That needs to get a heck of a lot better.”
Northwood got off to a miserable start on both ends of the court, as the Cardinals ran off 10 consecutive points to jumpstart a 17-3 run which made it 17-5. Saginaw Valley eventually extended to a 22-9 advantage heading into the second quarter.
The Cardinals then scored seven straight points early in the second to open up a 29-11 lead and seemed on the verge of running NU out of the gym. But the Timberwolves buckled down, got some stops, and finally started hitting some shots to claw their way back into it.
Freshman center Alana Nelson came off the bench to give NU 10 big points in a 19-6 outburst, and Alli Keyser added seven points in the run, as the Timberwolves trimmed the deficit to 35-30. SVSU ended up settling for a 37-30 halftime edge.
“She was a difference. … She’s been great," Curtis said of Nelson, who led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. "Alana is kind of coming into her own, and I’ve been seeing little bits and pieces of it here and there.
" … She’s super talented, she finishes really well around the rim, and if we can get her on the same page defensively, I think she’s going to be a really special player here," he added.
Northwood carried that momentum over into the third quarter, reeling off 11 consecutive points by four different players to take its first lead, 41-39, since having a 2-0 edge in the game's opening moments.
NU's offense then went cold, however, while Saginaw Valley's suddenly sprang to life.
The Cardinals responded with 13 straight points of their own, capping the run with a 3-point play off of a nifty turnaround jumper by Midland High alum Maddie Barrie for a 52-41 lead.
Barrie finished the third quarter with another 3-point play, this time off of an offensive rebound and putback, to make it 62-49, then extended the Cardinals' lead to 65-51 on a bank-shot 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
Again, the Timberwolves had a run left in them.
Nelson converted a 3-point play off the drive to spark a 15-4 run which was capped by Ellie Taylor's 3-pointer, cutting SVSU's lead down to 69-66 with 1:43 to play.
That was as close as NU would get, though, as Saginaw Valley got a critical backdoor layup by Tyler Scheid and hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch, while the Timberwolves had a pair of backbreaking turnovers in crunch time.
“That’s certainly not the way we want to play. And give them credit. They made plays down the stretch, and we didn’t," Curtis noted. " … I’m really disappointed in the defensive effort, but I thought our kids showed a lot of grit and a lot toughness, digging into that 18-point hole and then coming back and taking the lead.
"I’m proud of that effort, but, again, it never should’ve gotten to that point. Defensively, we needed to be better," he added.
Both teams shot 44 percent from the floor overall, and both struggled from 3-point range, as SVSU was 28 percent (8 of 29) from beyond the arc to NU's 20 percent (4 of 20).
Maddie Maloney paced Saginaw Valley with 17 points, while Barrie had 16 points, Scheid had 13 points and eight rebounds, Tori DePerry had 12 points, and Kaitlyn Zarycki added 10 points and seven assists.
For Northwood, Maizie Taylor finished with 15 points and five assists, while Keyser had 10 points and three assists, and Ellie Taylor added nine points.
NU senior point guard and defensive leader Kenzie Seeley played only 17 minutes after aggravating a previous ankle injury, and her status for the upcoming weekend is up in the air.
The Timberwolves will host Purdue Northwest on Friday at 6 p.m. and on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“You can talk about the offense all you want, but when you’re giving up that many points, that's too much. Seventy-six points is too many to be giving up," Curtis said. " … We should’ve gotten more stops than we did, plain and simple.
" … We’re not lazy. We just need to have a little more grit to us," he added. "And if we can find that grit, I think we’ll be just fine.”
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