UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team showcased a strong overall team effort tonight (Feb. 21) as they came away with a 71-61 win over Grand Valley in the home finale for the Cardinals.
SVSU (12-12, 10-10 GLIAC) ran out to a 6-0 lead on Senior Night as an Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance HS) jumper capped off the strong start for Saginaw Valley less than two minutes into the game.
GVSU (17-7, 13-7 GLIAC) fell further behind after a Kristen Greene (Brown City, Mich. / Brown City HS) three-pointer extended the Cardinal lead to 12-5 after five minutes of play.
Saginaw Valley stretched their lead to 18-7 with ten minutes to play on an Emily Wendling (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing HS) layup.
SVSU maintained a 25-15 advantage on a Kayla Womack (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North HS) three-pointer with five minutes left until half.
The Lakers slowly chipped away at the Cardinal lead and the game entered halftime tied up at 33-33.
Saginaw Valley never trailed in the first half due to a 16-6 points in the paint advantage and 21-14 rebounding edge.
After four minutes of play to start the second half, Saginaw Valley took a 40-34 lead on a Greene three-pointer.
On consecutive defensive plays for SVSU, a Boston steal led to two points for Katelyn Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) to preserve a six-point Cardinal lead (53-47) with 8:50 to play.
Relentless play on the defensive end by Saginaw Valley allowed them to open up a 61-51 lead on a Katelyn Carriere layup with just over three minutes remaining.
Down the stretch, SVSU was able to get stops on defense and convert free throws to bring home a 71-61 win on Senior Night at James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena.
The Cardinals were led by Katelyn Carriere, who scored a team-high 21 points, including 10-for-12 from the line. Samantha Zirzow (Goodrich, Mich. / Goodrich HS) hauled in a team-high 10 boards, while Emily Wendling added 10 points and four rebounds for SVSU.
Saginaw Valley received a solid bench performance tonight from Meijer "Player of the Game" Kristen Greene, whose 17 points and five rebounds helped give the Cardinal bench a 26-7 scoring advantage. The lone senior on the SVSU women's basketball squad, Aysha Boston, also shined in her final home contest on the defensive end collecting a game-high five steals.
SVSU earned a 41-33 rebounding advantage over the Lakers, while taking a 24-16 points in the paint edge en route to victory as the Cardinals move one step closer to a GLIAC Tournament berth.
The Saginaw Valley women's basketball team will be back in action Saturday (Feb. 23) at 3:00 PM when they travel to face Ferris State.