The Basics
Score: Saginaw Valley 89, Findlay 83 - Final OT
Records: SVSU (8-4, 5-2 GLIAC) | UF (10-3, 5-2 GLIAC)
Location: Croy Gymnasium - Findlay, Ohio
FINDLAY, Ohio - Coming off an overtime victory Sunday (Jan. 3) over the Walsh Cavaliers, the SVSU women's basketball team had another tough matchup on the road against the University of Findlay on Thursday (Jan. 7) night. After holding a lead through most of the contest, the Oilers came back and forced an overtime session and sent the game into overtime. Tied at 71-71, the Lady Cardinals owned the overtime session by an 18-12 mark and posted an 89-83 win over the Oilers.
Saginaw Valley got a career-high 32 points from Katelyn Carriere and 11 overtime points from Halee Nieman to held seal the victory.
Anna Hall would open the scoring for the game at the 9:06 marker with a three-pointer to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
After the game was tied at 15-15 and the Oilers took a 17-15 lead, Danielle Carriere connected on a triple to give SVSU an 18-17 edge at the 2:07 mark in the opening quarter. A pair of Alex Green free throws extended the lead to 20-17 and a layup from Katelyn Carriere with 20 seconds left in the frame made the score 22-17.
Findlay got a jumper from Haley Horstman at the end of the opening quarter and SVSU would hold a 22-19 advantage after the opening 10 minutes of play.
Nieman hit on a pair of free throws at the 8:45 marker of the second quarter, pushing the lead to 24-19 for SV.
The Oilers would come back and take a 30-29 lead with 4:08 showing on the clock for the first half but a Nieman jumper quickly turned the lead back into SVSU's favor, 31-30.
The home squad took the lead back, but Saginaw Valley got another layup from Nieman, a triple from Katelyn Carriere and a layup from Nieman as the buzzer sounded for the first half to close a 6-0 run for SVSU and make the score 38-32, its largest lead to that point of the game.
Katelyn Carriere opened the third quarter on fire for SVSU, nailing back-to-back triples to push the lead out to 44-32 and a pair of freebies from Hall would make the score 46-32 just 1:42 into the second half. Carriere would then score the next six points for the Cardinals, mixed with a score from the Oilers, which pushed the lead out to 52-38 for Saginaw Valley.
Danielle Carriere followed two Oiler free throws to make the lead 55-40 for SV, marking its largest lead of the game at the 4:32 mark of the third quarter. Katelyn Carriere would continue to hit a free throw and ended the frame just how she started, making good on a three-point try to give SVSU a 59-52 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Katelyn Carriere went-off for 16 of the Lady Cardinals' 21 points in the quarter.
She would not be done then, however, as she posted the first score of the fourth quarter when she struck from downtown once again, giving SV a 10-point lead at 62-52 with 9:15 left to play in the game.
Saginaw Valley would continue to hold the lead until the Oilers came all the way back to take a 71-69 lead with 17 ticks left on the game clock after a three-point play off a steal.
After an SVSU timeout, an Oiler foul sent Nieman to the free throw line to give her a chance to tie the game for the Cards.
She would come through clutch, striking on both of her free throw attempts to knot the game at 71-71.
The Oilers had 4.3 seconds left to try and tie the game after that, but were unable to convert and the game would head into an overtime session, the second straight for the SVSU women.
As hot as Katelyn Carriere was in the third quarter, Nieman was equally as impressive in the overtime session for Saginaw Valley.
After tying the game with her two freebies at the end of regulation, Nieman would score 11 of the Lady Cardinals' 18 overtime points, including three shots from beyond the arc.
Findlay cut the lead to 84-80 with a Karli Bonar triple but Katelyn and Danielle Carriere would connect on 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch and, besides another Bonar three-pointer, that helped seal the six-point victory for SVSU, 89-83.
Inside the Boxscore
- The win over the Oilers was the fourth straight for the Lady Cards, as they improve to 8-4 overall and 5-2 in GLIAC play. They have now surpassed their league win tally from the 2014-15 campaign.
- Katelyn Carriere had a career-high 32 points in the contest and tied a season-best mark with nine rebounds. She chipped-in a game-high four assists for the Cards. She was 11-of-17 from the floor and an outstanding 6-of-8 from the three-point line.
- Nieman came up just one point shy of her career-high, scoring 22 points in the contest. She added six boards, two steals and an assist in the game.
- Hall went for 14 points, five boards, two assists and a steal for the visitors, yet another great all-around game for the freshman.
- Danielle Carriere tied a season-high with 13 points for SVSU, adding five boards and a pair of assists while Green tied for the game-high with four assists.
- Grace Whelan played 28 key minutes off the bench, grabbing six rebounds, scoring four points and adding a steal and an assist.
- The victory was the first at Findlay since January 18, 2007.
- The 89 points were the fourth straight contest with at least 80 points for the Lady Cardinals and the sixth time of the 2015-16 season. The last time the team ran off a four-game streak with at least 80 was during the 1992-93 season.
- The Oilers were 50.0% (33-66) from the floor while the Lady Cards shot 48.3% (29-60).
- SVSU had a 15-7 edge in assists as well in the contest.
Meijer "Player of the Game"
Katelyn Carriere earned Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after posting her career-high of 32 points in the contest. She added game-highs of nine boards and four assists in the matchup. Carriere played in 43 of 45 possible minutes in the overtime win.
From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski...
Up Next for Saginaw Valley
SVSU continues on the road and will play at Wayne State University on Saturday (Jan. 9) afternoon. Tip-off is set for 3:07 p.m. at WSU's Matthaei Center. The Warriors are coming off a 78-75 home loss to the Hillsdale College Chargers on Thursday evening.
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