Lady Yellow Jackets suffer a tough loss against Northwood

By Tayler Sharp

Winning the second and fourth quarters wasn’t enough for the Lady Jackets to win the game against the Northwood Timberwolves. Though they hustled through three quarters, the Cedarville women’s basketball team could not overcome the first-quarter deficit and lost 61-48 against Northwood on Thursday night.

The Lady Jackets started the game with low energy. Fighting against the shot clock, Cedarville struggled to find a break in the Northwood defense to attempt a basket. Finishing the first quarter down 17-2, it was unknown how the Lady Jackets would respond after they hardly got a shot off for the first ten minutes. 

“We’ve got to value the basketball,” head coach Addy Miller said. “We did a much better job in the second, but you can’t wait that long. You can’t get down that much.” 

The shot clock buzzer was not heard in the second quarter compared to the first. The Jackets adapted to the Timberwolves’ defense, winning the second quarter 15-13. Cedarville’s triumph moved the score to 30-17 going into the half, still fighting from behind.

“We try to remind them that it’s simple,” Miller said. “What are our goals on defense? What are our goals on offense? Go out and execute those. Don’t overcomplicate things, don’t make the big picture bigger.” 

The second quarter proved that the Lady Jackets kept their goals in mind and simplified their play. Cedarville carried this mindset throughout the rest of the game and continued to bring the energy into the second half. Though losing the third quarter by only four points, the Jackets were able to come back and win the fourth quarter 15-9. 

Having an overall record of 14-5 and a conference record of 10-1, the Timberwolves were not going to be an easy matchup for Cedarville. Despite the formidable Northwood team, the Jackets held them to 14.5 points below their 75.5 game average. 

Northwood’s aggressive defense gave Cedarville the chance to shine with free throws. The Lady Jackets made 12 out of 15 attempted free throws, with Ella Sellars going 7 for 7. 

The small wins of tonight’s game will fuel Cedarville as they hit the road this weekend for a matchup against Kentucky Wesleyan. The Lady Yellow Jackets will not be seen back at their home court until Jan. 31 against Findlay. 

Tayler Sharp is a journalism major and writer and photographer for Cedars. Tayler loves playing golf, reading a good book or doing anything outdoors.