GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Jordan Steele scored 33 points and IU Northwest erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, but Cornerstone's Maddie Gruppen and Julie Ashbaugh took over the extra period in a 95-86 win Wednesday.
Steele made 13 of 27 shots, hit three 3-pointers and played 42 of 45 minutes in the RedHawks' (0-1) season opener.
Steele scored on a layup to start the game, then hit a 3-pointer assisted by Gracie Little for a 5-0 lead. Gruppen answered with a 3 of her own, and the teams traded baskets until Cornerstone took a 19-18 lead after one quarter.
Ava Kingery hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first 40 seconds of the second quarter, and Nia Allen's layup made it 26-21 with 8:59 left. Cornerstone ran off nine straight points and led by as many as 10 on a Gruppen 3-pointer with 3:15 left in the half. Kingery answered with a third 3-pointer, and Cornerstone led 44-39 at the break.
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IU Northwest got within 49-50 in the third on an Aniyah Hinton-Henry layup. Ashbaugh went 6-of-7 at the line in the quarter, and Gruppen's 3-pointer at the buzzer made it 65-57.
Cornerstone pushed the lead to 67-57 early in the fourth, and the RedHawks answered with an 11-2 run. Allen scored five points in that stretch and added a steal and layup eight seconds after the previous bucket to make it 68-69 with 6:35 left. Steele's layup, set up by a Kingery assist at 4:22, put IU Northwest up 72-71 for its first lead since early in the second quarter. Allen and Steele each scored again to make it 76-71 with 2:33 to play.
Gruppen cut the lead to two with a 3-pointer, and Ashbaugh's putback and free throw with 1:06 left put Cornerstone up 77-76. Ciara Bonner's layup with nine seconds left tied it at 78, and Gruppen's 3-point try at the buzzer missed.
Allen, who had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 21 minutes, fouled out with 1:20 left in regulation and was unavailable in the extra period.
Cornerstone took control with a layup from Laura Innerebner and 3-pointers from Jaedyn Rodammer and Gruppen for an 86-79 lead. Steele's layup with 2:36 left made it 86-84, but the Golden Eagles closed on a 9-2 run to outscore the RedHawks 17-8 in overtime.
Gruppen led Cornerstone with 19 points and went 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Ashbaugh had 16 points and 15 rebounds, five of them in overtime. Rodammer and Eliana Grubbs each added 14.
Kingery finished with 12 points, three assists and three steals. Aaliyah Keil had seven points and three steals, and Little grabbed six rebounds.
The RedHawks forced 20 Cornerstone turnovers and turned them into 21 points. But Cornerstone shot 51.6 percent, went 12-of-30 from 3-point range and outrebounded IU Northwest 48-36.
IU Northwest plays at No. 25 Spring Arbor in Spring Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Oct. 31, with tipoff at 11 a.m. CDT.
