The Basics
Score: Ohio Dominican 63, Saginaw Valley 55
Records: ODU (5-1, 1-0 GLIAC) | SVSU (3-3, 0-1 GLIAC)
Location: James E. O'Neill Arena - University Center, Mich.
UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The SVSU women's basketball team opened the 2015-16 GLIAC season with a home game against the Ohio Dominican Panthers on Thursday (Dec. 3) night at SVSU's O'Neill Arena. Despite running out to a 15-12 lead at the first quarter break, the Cardinals would drop the contest by a final score of 63-55.
Emily Wendling scored the first bucket of the game and she would make four consecutive points for SVSU, culminating with a jumper at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter to make the score 9-8 in the home team's favor. The Cards held onto that lead and held a 15-12 edge at the first break.
The lead would extend to six points at the 8:19 point of the second quarter when Alex Green made a layup and pushed the score out to 19-13 in the Cardinals' advantage. That's the largest lead SVSU would hold in the contest.
The Panthers would claw their way back and take the lead with 5:37 left to play in the first half when a Madi Rittinger layup made the score 22-21. A late three-pointer gave the visitors a 31-23 advantage heading into halftime.
Wendling had eight first half points and nine rebounds. Danielle Carriere and Grace Whelan each chipped-in with fourfirst half points as well.
ODU extended its lead to nine points at the 7:49 mark in the third quarter with the score 37-28.
A triple from Katelyn Carriere would spark a 6-0 run from the Cardinals that drew the deficit to within three points at 37-34. Green connected on a pair of free throws and Anna Hall added another to compliment Carriere's three-pointer.
That's as close as Saginaw Valley would get in the game, as the Panthers worked a double-digit lead several times from there and led by as many as 11 points (62-51) with 22 ticks left on the clock.
The Cardinals trimmed that lead back down to eight points with the use of a couple Wendling free throws and a layup from Hall. That eight point deficit is where the final score would stay, as the visitors closed-out for the 63-55 win.
Inside the Boxscore
- Wendling posted her third double-double of the season against the Panthers, as she notched a game-high 18 points and added 11 rebounds to her credit. She added a pair of blocks and a steal in the contest.
- Katelyn Carriere also reached double-figures in scoring, netting 13 points while posting four steals and a pair of boards. The 13 points are a season-high for her.
- Danielle Carriere posted six points and nine rebounds in the contest to go along with two assists and a steal.
- Jessica Alexander had a team-high five assists for the Cardinals.
- ODU shot 41.0% (25-61) in the game while SV shot just 27.9% (19-68) from the floor.
- Saginaw Valley held the 48-42 edge on the glass and scored 18 second chance points, holding the Panthers to just six. That was aided by 21 Cardinal offensive boards compared to just nine from ODU.
- The Panthers posted a 34-24 advantage in points in the paint.
- Meilssa Scherpenberg led the Panthers with 14 points and 11 rebounds on the night.
Meijer "Player of the Game"
Wendling earned Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after recording the 18 points and 11 boards for the Lady Cardinals.
Up Next for Saginaw Valley
Saginaw Valley hosts Tiffin University on Saturday (Dec. 5) in another GLIAC contest at O'Neill Arena. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. The Dragons are coming off an 81-68 loss at Hillsdale College on Thursday night.
