Women's Basketball opens season with 53-50 regional victory at Hillsdale

Women's Basketball opens season with 53-50 regional victory at Hillsdale

HILLSDALE -- The Cardinal Women's Basketball team hit the road for the 2019 season opener on Friday (Nov. 8), playing at regional foe Hillsdale College in a morning matchup. After trailing 27-21 at the halftime break, Saginaw Valley outscored the Chargers by a 32-23 count the rest of the way and got a game-winning triple from sophomore guard Maddie Barrie for a 53-50 win. 

SVSU trailed 9-7 after the first 10 minutes of action. Kaitlyn Zarycki led the offensive attack with five points in the frame. Barrie tacked-on five points in the second quarter for SV, which was outscored by an 18-14 mark in the second quarter of play to put the score at 32-23 at the half. 

The Cards had their best shooting output in the third, hitting on 7-of-13 shots for a 53.8% while outscoring Hillsdale 17-10 in the quarter. Maddie Maloney had a team-high six points in that quarter, leading the visitors to a 38-37 lead after 30 minutes of action.

In the fourth quarter, the score remained tight throughout and a pair of free throws from Zarycki knotted the game at 50-50 with just 53 seconds left to play. The Cardinals then took advantage of a turnover by Hillsdale and got a three-pointer from Barrie with just 19 seconds to play, making the score 53-50 in SVSU's favor.

HC attempted a long triple as time expired, which fell no good and the Cards moved to 1-0 on the season with the three-point victory.  

Inside the Boxscore

  • Zarycki had a team-high 11 points in her first career collegiate game. She added a game-high four steals.
  • Barrie was in double-figures in scoring as well, adding 10 points with two assists and two rebounds.
  • Kyndall Spires and Aaaliah Hill each added eight points while Kaitlyn Geers had a game-best eight boards.
  • Maloney had six points and a game-high six assists and Ashley Buchholz added six points and six rebounds.
  • SVSU shot 34.5% from the field while Hillsdale was 32.7%.
  • The Cards forced 21 turnovers and committed 12 in the contest. 
  • HC out-rebounded SVSU 41-35 but Saginaw Valley posted a 21-10 edge in the paint and 21-7 edge in bench scoring.

From Head Coach Jenny Pruett

"We talk about it all the time. Basketball is a game of ups and downs. We stayed poised and had some clutch plays down the stretch. Ashley Buchholz had a huge offensive rebound, Maddie Barrie with the game-winner and Kaitlyn Zarycki had some clutch free throws. Different players stepped up and gave Hillsdale some problems. I'm proud of everyone's effort today! We had a great support system on our side here in Hillsdale and we want to thank all the fans that showed up this morning!"

Up Next...

Saginaw Valley hits the road again for a Sunday (Nov. 10) game at the University of Findlay in another regional tilt. Tip-off will be at 2:00 p.m. in Ohio. You can follow the action live at svsucardinals.com. 

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