HILLSDALE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team couldn't hold on to a 12 point halftime lead and fell on the road to Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent Hillsdale College by a score of 83-78 on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11).

Despite a brief Hillsdale lead when the score was just 4-2, the Lady Cardinals led throughout most of the opening half.  SVSU led by 16 points at the 5:56 mark after senior guard Kristen Greene drained a three pointer to make the score 40-24.

The Cards maintained the lead and a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Katelyn Carriere concluded the scoring for the half, giving the team a 48-36 advantage heading into the halftime break.

Greene connected on 3-of-6 shooting and was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, adding six free throws on as many attempts to score 15 first half points.

Carriere added 13 points, including a pair of triples, and junior forward Samantha Zirzow posted 10 points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.

Hillsdale opened the second half with an 8-0 run after an SVSU bucket to cut the lead to six points at 50-44 at the 17:16 marker.

Saginaw Valley held on to the lead all the way until there was 3:50 left to play when the Chargers grabbed their second lead of the game at 73-72.  The Cards responded to re-gain the lead and held it until a three point play from Hillsdale gave it a 79-78 advantage with 53 seconds left to play.

Four Charger free throws down the stretch and an expiring game clock eliminated all hope left for the Lady Cardinals, as Hillsdale escaped with the five point victory, 83-78.

Greene finished with a game-high 20 points and was selected as the Meijer "Player of the Game."  She added three rebounds and three steals.

Carriere ended the game with 19 points and senior guard Kayla Womack tallied 15.

Zirzow had 12 points and seven boards in the contest.

SVSU was out-rebounded by a 40-30 margin and shot a 46.2% mark from the floor compared to Hillsdale's 47.5%.

The Cards were on from deep, connecting on 6-of-10 three point attempts.

After the loss, SV falls to 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the GLIAC.  The Chargers improve to 4-8 overall and 3-5 in league play.

Saginaw Valley is back in action on Thursday (Jan. 16), when the Cards travel to play GLIAC North Division foe Lake Superior State University in a 5:30 pm contest.