The Basics
Score: Saginaw Valley 76, Northwood 71
Records: SVSU (11-4, 8-2 GLIAC) | NU (9-7, 5-5 GLIAC)
Location: Riepma Arena - Midland, Mich.
MIDLAND, Mich. - The SVSU women's basketball team came into Saturday's GLIAC North Division matchup at Northwood riding a six-game win streak. After running out to a strong 43-33 halftime lead, the Lady Cardinals overcame a tough third quarter and out-scored the Timberwolves by a 20-12 count in the fourth quarter to finish strong for a 76-71 victory at Northwood's Riepma Arena.
Emily Wendling got the visitors on the board first for a 2-0 edge just 16 seconds into the game, as she opened the game with a jumper to begin what would be a back-and-forth first quarter.
The Timberwolves grabbed the lead from there and held it until Grace Whelan knotted the score at 9-9 at the 5:21 marker with a jumper.
The lead bounced around from there again, but the Cards grabbed a 19-18 advantage with 1:19 showing on the clock when Hannah Settingsgaard made good on a layup. SVSU led from there and carried a 24-20 lead into the first quarter break.
A Halee Nieman jumper to open the second quarter gave SVSU a 26-20 advantage at the 9:54 marker. A Wendling layup just over two minutes later made the lead nine (31-22) but a layup from Northwood's Jordyn Nurenberg would help the home team cut the deficit to 36-33 with 3:16 to play in the half.
Katelyn Carriere answered with a jumper from there, sparking a seven point SVSU run to end the half, with her adding a triple and her sister, Danielle Carriere, finishing it off on a bucket with just two seconds left to give the visitors their largest lead of the game at 10, 43-33.
Saginaw Valley would maintain the lead all the way until the 3:14 mark of the third quarter when Northwood tied things up at 51-51 after a 9-0 run.
NU took the lead at 54-52 and built it to 56-52 after a pair of free throws with 1:52 left in the frame.
Trailing 59-55, SV got one of two free throws from Settingsgaard with 0.3 seconds to go in the third to make the score 59-56 in Northwood's advantage.
Midway through the fourth at the 5:55 marker, the Lady Cardinals got a bucket from Katelyn Carriere and another from Wendling to re-gain the lead at 64-63.
After Northwood's Maddy Seeley made a layup to give the home squad a 65-64 lead, Katelyn Carriere answered right back with her fourth three-pointer of the game to make the score 67-65 in SVSU's favor.
NU hit on a pair of freebies to knot the score at 67-67 at the 3:08 marker, but Danielle Carriere followed suit for SV and nailed a triple with just under three minutes to play to put the score at 70-67.
The T-Wolves would get within one point twice more at 70-69 and 72-71, the latter coming with just 26 seconds left to play.
Saginaw Valley was able to close out from there, as Northwood had to foul and Katelyn Carriere made four straight free throws to push the lead to 76-71, which is what the final score would remain.
Inside the Boxscore
- Katelyn Carriere had a game-high 22 points for the Cards, adding three rebounds and two assists. She was 7-of-11 from the floor and a solid 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She is shooting 44.6% from downtown this season, ranking her third in the GLIAC.
- Wendling added 17 points with a pair of boards and an assist.
- Danielle Carriere chipped-in with 11 points for SV, adding seven rebounds.
- Grace Whelan posted eight points and seven boards, two assists and a steal while Halee Nieman grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go along with five points, four assists and a steal. The rebound totals for both players marked career-highs.
- Anna Hall had a solid all-around game as well, notching nine points with five helpers and four rebounds.
- Northwood shot 45.5% (25-55) in the game and SVSU was 41.3% (26-63) from the floor.
- The Lady Cardinals were solid from three, hitting on 53.3% (8-15) of their tries compared to Northwood's 33.3% (5-15).
- Saginaw Valley held the edge on the glass 40-30 and a slight 22-19 advantage in bench points. Northwood led 38-26 in the points in the paint category.
- The win makes it seven in a row for Saginaw Valley, the first such streak since the 1998-99 season, which saw the program run to a streak of 10 straight victories.
- The win, coupled with a Michigan Tech loss, gives SVSU sole possession of first place in the GLIAC North Division at 8-2 in league play to go along with its 11-4 overall mark.
Meijer "Player of the Game"
Katelyn Carriere was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after her game-high of 22 points. She added three boards and two assists in her 28 minutes of action.
From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski...
"We have a ton of respect for Northwood and we knew this was going to be a tough battle down to the final horn. We were fortunate to make more plays than them down the stretch and get the win. I'm so proud of the team for staying together when things weren't going our way and for just grinding the game out. It's a big win against our rival and now we're on to the next one!"
Up Next for Saginaw Valley
Saginaw Valley will make its annual trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, as the Lady Cards travel to play at Northern Michigan University Thursday (Jan. 21) at 6:00 p.m. before taking on Michigan Tech University Saturday (Jan. 23) in a 1:00 p.m. contest.
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