Warsaw's Katie Elliott almost single-handedly outshot NorthWood's entire team Tuesday night.

In a 48-38 victory over the Panthers that improved Warsaw's record to 12-5 and 6-0 in the conference, as well as giving the Tigers their first outright NLC championship since the 1992-93 season, Elliott shot 10 of 14 from the field and led all scorers with 24 points. The Panthers as a team only connected on 14 of 44 (31.8 percent) field goal attempts. Warsaw was 20 of 41 (48.8 percent) from the field.

NorthWood falls to 14-3 and 5-1 in conference action after losing to Warsaw for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign and was led by Natalie Will and Amy Zercher, both under their averages, who combined for 23 points.

"I think the key of the game from the start was Katie Elliott's leadership," said Warsaw coach Will Wienhorst. "This is the best Lady Tiger win, outside of the postseason, in five years."

Elliott set the tone early as she scored two of her eight first-quarter points just 20 seconds into the contest and didn't miss a shot until 1:56 remained in the second stanza. The Tiger center was 7 of 8 from the field in the first half. Nerecia Taylor rebounded the three-point attempt and scored two of her four points, giving the Tigers an 18-16 lead, Warsaw never trailed after that point.

"The last two years NorthWood has come out blazing," said Wienhorst. "But each quarter they (the Tigers) gained more confidence and more kids stepped up. We lost it for a few minutes but Jenna (Rooney) hit that three-pointer and you could see the smiles on their faces."

The three-pointer Wienhorst is referring to came with 5:23 remaining in the final frame. After building a seven-point cushion, 32-25 at the end of three quarters, Warsaw opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run giving the Tigers their biggest lead of the night, 41-25.

The Panthers answered with a 9-0 run of their own cutting the deficit to seven, 41-34, but Warsaw ended the game with a 7-4 spurt accounting for the 48-38 final.

After starting the season with an impressive 8-1 record Warsaw has gone 4-4.

"I told the girls last Thursday I didn't think we've worked as hard as we could," said Wienhorst. "We had a walk through tonight (Tuesday) at 6 p.m. and I just told them to just play. When you want to win you'll work hard. I didn't say a lot before the game I just said leave it on the floor."

The Tigers also outrebounded NorthWood 24-17. Elliott pulling down 11 boards.

Warsaw will host Peru Thursday with the JV starting at 6:15 p.m.

WARSAW 48

NORTHWOOD 38

Warsaw 8 12 12 16 - 48

NorthWood 8 9 8 13 - 38

Warsaw FG FT A S R Pts.

Elliott (C) 10-14 4-7 1 0 11 24

Rooney (F) 4-9 0-0 1 0 1 9

Kesler (G) 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 4

Taylor 2-2 0-0 0 0 4 4

O'Connell 1-4 0-1 2 1 4 3

Parker (F) 0-3 2-2 0 2 3 2

Colt 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2

Zaugg (G) 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 0

Overton 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Cavert 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Kessler 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Conley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Stanley 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20-41 6-10 6 3 24 48

NorthWood FG FT A S R Pts.

Will (G) 4-6 5-6 1 2 0 13

Zercher (F) 4-15 2-2 0 1 7 10

Chamberlain (F) 3-6 0-0 0 0 1 6

Callander (G) 2-8 0-0 0 2 1 4

Morris 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 3

Duncan (C) 0-3 2-2 1 0 7 2

Haney 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0

Stichter 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Howard 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Newcomer 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Speed 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Carlin 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 14-44 9-10 2 6 17 38

Three-pointers - Warsaw 2 (Rooney, O'Connell), NorthWood 1 (Morris). Turnovers - Warsaw 13, NorthWood 9. Fouls - Warsaw 8, NorthWood 15.

Referees - Steve Godfrey, Brett Patrick

JV score - Warsaw 51, NorthWood 39 [[In-content Ad]]