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https://www.ourmidland.com/sports/article/Sizzling-season-opener-NU-women-rout-Davenport-15857268.php
Kemp scores 28, as T'wolves shoot over 50 percent from long range
By Fred Kelly, Midland Daily News
Published 9:37 pm EST, Friday, January 8, 2021
Northwood's Adele Kemp takes a shot during a game against Davenport Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 at Northwood University. (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)
Photo: (Katy Kildee/kkildee@mdn.net)
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The last time Northwood hosted an athletics event, the men's basketball team got a huge win in front of a jam-packed and frenzied fan base. The crowd for Friday's game at Riepma Arena didn't quite measure up to that, but the product on the court certainly did.
With no fans in the stands, NU's women's basketball team created plenty of open shots -- and plenty of its own energy -- in a dominant 99-67 victory over Davenport in both teams' season opener. It was the first home event for any Northwood team since the men's basketball team beat Davenport in a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal on March 3, 2020.
"It's been over 300 days since our last game, and I think you could tell by our energy on the court that we were all so excited to get out there and play and have a lot of fun with it," enthused NU sophomore guard Maizie Taylor.
The Timberwolves not only had a lot of fun, they also shot the ball at a torrid pace, particularly sophomore small forward Adele Kemp, who finished with a career-high and game-high 28 points and was NU's sparkplug.
"We were going into this game just trying to go 1-0, and I think our team was really positive in warmups, which helped a lot," said Kemp, who was 10 of 13 from the floor, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
Kemp added that making shots early made a big difference.
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"It definitely gets you going, for sure," she said. "And seeing the ball go in builds confidence for everyone."
Kemp had plenty of help, too, as the Timberwolves shot 49 percent (37 of 76) from the floor overall and a sizzling 54 percent (13 of 24) from beyond the arc.
"Honestly, that's been the way it's been in practice, too. ... Our depth is our strength. It was incredibly hard for me as a coach to decide who to put in the starting lineup, because I have nine people who deserve to start," said NU coach Jeff Curtis. "That's been great in practice. Our practices have been super competitive."
Northwood finished the first half strong, turning a close game into a seven-point halftime lead, then roaring out to a red-hot start in the second half and scoring a program-record 37 third-quarter points to take complete command. All told, the Timberwolves outscored the Panthers 65-40 in the second half.
Kemp and Brooke Ditto combined to score NU's first eight points of the game, while DU went scoreless until the 3:47 mark of the first quarter. With the Timberwolves up 15-11 after one period, the Panthers went on an 11-4 run in the second to take a 22-21 lead.
But after a couple more lead changes, Northwood ran off the final eight points of the half on 3-pointers by Kemp and Alli Keyser and two free throws by Kenzie Seeley to take a 34-27 edge into the break.
Kemp had 15 points in the first half.
"I definitely think Adele was our spark in the first half, and then in the third quarter, once a couple of other people saw the ball going in, it was contagious, and we all started playing off of each other," Taylor noted.
Kemp began the third quarter with a 3-point play and a 3-pointer to get NU going again. Keyser added a pair of 3's, Ellie Taylor hit a triple of her own, and Jayla Strickland scored five points inside, as the Timberwolves went on a game-changing 26-6 outburst and opened up a commanding 60-33 advantage.
Curtis said he was not surprised by Kemp's production.
"Adele is another one of those kids who you see signs of that from in practice every day," he said. "She is just a mismatch for the other team, playing the 4 spot. She's undersized, and she can stretch the floor with the 3(-point shot) pretty well. She's capable of doing that a lot. She can really score the basketball."
Kemp hit a layup late in the third to give NU its biggest lead thus far, 69-40, and the Timberwolves went on to carry a 71-43 advantage into the fourth.
Northwood then went on an 11-3 run early in the fourth with the help of two triples by Makenzie Todd and another by Kemp to stretch its lead to 82-47.
"If we can get stops on defense, that just generates our offense," Kemp noted, adding that she loves the Timberwolves' team chemistry right now. " ... We all get along, we all cheer each other on, and you could definitely see that on the floor tonight."
Ditto and Keyser each had 12 points for NU, while Strickland scored nine points, Todd had eight points, Maizie Taylor finished with six points and eight assists, and Seeley added seven assists.
For Davenport, which shot 38 percent (23 of 60) overall and 30 percent (7 of 23) from long range, Loni Sales had 22 points, while Toni Grace added 13 points, and Taylor Opolka contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.
Curtis said his team's depth and cohesiveness is a plus, not only in terms of sharing the ball but also in terms of coping with the inevitable fatigue of playing on back-to-back days this season.
"The beauty of our team is that they're so close and tight-knit, and they just want to win. ... Even the two guards coming off the bench are playing starter minutes, and it's a wonderful situation to have," he noted. " ... Hopefully, our depth, especially with wearing teams down in back-to-back games, is going to be an ace in our pocket."
NU and Davenport will play again at Riepma Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m., and Curtis said, "I truly don't know" what to expect from a rematch less than 24 hours later.
"Playing two days in a row is going to be a lot of wear and tear on both teams. We shot the ball really well from the 3 today, but coming off a game like tonight where there was a lot of up and down, hopefully we can rest up enough that those shots will continue to fall for us," he said.
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