Basketball Recap: Kayla Woods' Big Game Can't Quite Lead South Bend St. Joseph over Northwood

South Bend St. Joseph entered their game against NorthWood on Tuesday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The South Bend St. Joseph Huskies fell to the NorthWood Panthers 45-40. The Huskies lost against the Panthers in their previous head to head back in December of 2023, too, but the margin this time around was much closer than the 47-21 score last time.

South Bend St. Joseph lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Kayla Woods, who posted 11 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Woods has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last six times she's played. Alexa Langager was another key player, putting up six points.

Leading NorthWood to victory were Claire Payne and Ella Branham. Payne went 7 of 9 on her way to 16 points and eight rebounds, while Branham went 8 of 17 on her way to 16 points and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Megan Yoder, who put up seven points and four steals.

South Bend St. Joseph's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 6-3. As for NorthWood, their victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-1.

South Bend St. Joseph wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 60-40 defeat against Marquette Catholic on the 11th. As for NorthWood, they will host Mishawaka at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.