Now this was a little more like it.
After struggling for much of its first five Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games, Tiffin University responded with a spirited effort against Northern Michigan, taking an early lead and never letting up in a 75-63 win at the Gillmor Center.
Jessica Harris, limited to 27 minutes because of foul trouble, still was a dominant force on offense, making 8 of 11 field goals and finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"Everybody stepped up today," Harris said. "From the starters to the bench; we needed that. We needed that in order for us to get a win. A win to us means that we're still in the GLIAC race, and we can still improve from here."
After many of Tiffin's games this season, coach Pam Oswald has stressed that the Dragons (4-5, 2-4) have needed to stay in system. On Tuesday, Tiffin was continually finding the open player with the extra pass, and almost everyone got involved.
Three players - Harris, Jillian Adams and Stephanie Kelly - scored in double digits. But eight players scored overall, and none of the scorers had less than five points.
"I feel like people made sure they were setting good, hard screens," Oswald said. "They were making the extra pass, they were coming to get the ball. They were doing all those little things we talk about."
Tiffin led for most of the first half, and led 28-24 in the final minute before Melissa Gilliland buried a trey from the wing. Tiffin went to halftime with some momentum, and it carried over into the second half.
"We had a chip on our shoulder from (the Michigan Tech game Saturday)," Kelly said.
A big factor for the Dragons was the play of their forwards. Harris was held scoreless in the loss to Michigan Tech, and rebounded with a big game. But she wasn't the only one. Adams, Jessica Farr (six points) and Erica Mathis (five points) all provided big minutes for Oswald.
"My goal is to be strong during the game, the whole game," Adams said. "We want to make sure everyone else is being strong as well."
The bench contributed 18 points overall. Jordan Fraley had seven points, while starters Gilliland and Mackenzie Storlie had nine points and eight points, respectively.
"I think our bench stepped up so much tonight, and I think that's what we need," Kelly said. "That's what we need every night, to get everybody involved."
Nea Makela had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (7-3, 4-2).
For more on this game, read Zach Baker's blog.
