UNIVERSITY CENTER – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team hosted Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) rival Northwood University on Saturday (Jan. 17) night at SVSU's O'Neill Arena. The Lady Cardinals scored 41 points in the second half, but that was not enough as SVSU fell to the Timberwolves by a final score of 64-61.
SVSU jumped out to an early 4-2 lead following a layup by senior Samantha Zirzow at the 16:54 mark. Northwood responded with five straight points to jump ahead 7-4 with just under 16 minutes showing on the clock. The early Cardinal lead was the only time the home team would hold the advantage on the scoreboard.
The Timberwolves opened up its first double-digit lead of the contest at the 9:35 marker following a made layup to make the score 19-9. Sophomore Emily Wendling made good on a layup and an Alex Green free throw cut the T-Wolves' lead down to 17-11 with 7:14 remaining.
Northwood opened up a 10-point lead again, before Zirzow and Danielle Carriere responded with buckets on back-to-back possessions to make the score 26-20 with just over a minute to play in the opening half. NU made one-of-two free throws with 40 seconds left to make the score 27-20, which is what the score would be at the half.
Wendling led all players in the first 20 minutes with nine points and nine rebounds. Zirzow chipped-in with six points on 3-of-5 shooting and pulled in three boards.
SVSU scored the first six of eight points to open the second half, cutting the NU lead down to three points (29-26) at the 16:25 mark.
The Timberwolves built their largest lead of the game at 11 points following a pair of free throws to make the score 41-30 with just under 12 minutes to play in the second half. The Lady Cardinals responded by scoring the next six points to pull back within five points (41-36) at the 10:10 marker.
A pair of layups on consecutive offensive trips by Zirzow and Wendling cut into the lead and made the score 46-44 in the Timberwolves' favor with 7:21 showing on the clock.
The teams traded points until consecutive layups by Northwood gave the visitors a seven-point lead (59-52) with less than three minutes to play in the game.
NU led by six points with just over a minute to play, but Carriere drained a step-back triple to pull the Cards within three points with only 19 seconds on the clock. SVSU forced a turnover on the ensuing Northwood possession and had a chance to tie the game. A Jessica Alexander triple came up short and the Timberwolves were able to hold on for the 64-61 victory.
Wendling followed up her 30-point performance on Thursday night with another impressive showing against the Timberwolves as she was named the Meijer "Player of the Game." The sophomore recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Zirzow finished with 16 points and eight boards. Alexander and Green each chipped-in with seven points and two rebounds.
SVSU out-rebounded NU by a 42-33 margin and out-scored the Timberwolves in the paint (36-24). The Lady Cardinals shot an impressive 90 percent (18-for-20) from the charity stripe in the contest.
Saginaw Valley (6-10, 1-9 GLIAC) returns to the court Thursday (Jan. 22) night for a matchup with the Northern Michigan Wildcats (8-6, 6-4 GLIAC). Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm at SVSU's O'Neill Arena.
