Sophomore forward Sharon Houston (Merrillville) scored 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting and had 18 rebounds. Freshman Ish Shah Terry (Gary West Side) added 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. Freshman Justine Jones (Calumet) scored 10, and sophomore point guard Nina Wills added 9.

In their third win over Marygrove this season, IUN was able to spread the playing time around.

"In a game like tonight, we didn't want to have to go heavy minutes with all of our starters," said IUN head coach Ryan Shelton. "We didn't, so hopefully they'll have something left for tomorrow."

IUN will play Ohio Dominican University on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Association of Independent Institutions' championship matchup. The winner will earn a bid to the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament. Dominican defeated Johnson and Wales - Denver 67-44 in the early game Friday.

The Lady RedHawks looked rusty early and didn't score until the 16:22 mark with a bucket by Houston. Unable to establish a perimeter game against the Lady Mustangs - they were 0-5 from behind the arc - IU Northwest looked to the tandem of Houston and Terry to dominate the boards.

"Ish Shah played really well," Houston said. "She played tough and she played hard, and we're looking forward to seeing that more. A lot of people (on this team) show up when we need them."

Both Houston and Shelton conceded that Friday's performance was not up to the Lady RedHawks' usual standards. IU Northwest lost the turnover battle to Marygrove 29-20 and only shot 46 percent from the line. But IU Northwest shot 49 percent from the floor, as compared to 22 percent for Marygrove.

The Dominican players watched most of the IU Northwest game from the stands. The Lady RedHawks knew they were being scouted, but Houston said she doubted whether Friday's performance would be of much use to the top-seeded Lady Panthers.

"We didn't play very well, so they won't know what to expect tomorrow," she said.

Shelton agreed, at least in part.

"We just didn't play well enough to impress anybody out there tonight," he said. "(Dominican) is going to come in with the same attitude they drove in here with, which is that they're the best team in this tournament and they can win it. It's going to be up to us to prove them wrong."