FINDLAY, Ohio -- The Cardinal Women's Basketball team was on the road for the second straight game to open the season at Findlay on Sunday (Nov. 10) afternoon, taking on the Oilers in regional action. After holding a halftime lead and later erasing a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, Saginaw Valley wasn't able to pull out the victory and dropped a tight 62-59 game to Findlay.
SVSU held its largest lead of 10 points (20-10) with 2:04 left in the 1st quarter when Maddie Barrie drilled a three-pointer and the Cardinals led by a score of 20-13 at the end of the first session.
The 2nd quarter was a low-scoring affair, as Findlay had eight points and SVSU just six in the frame, putting the count at 26-21 in the visitors' favor.
In the 3rd quarter, there was much more offense, with the Oilers going for 29 points and Saginaw Valley adding 19 points of its own. That put the game at 50-45 in Findlay's favor as the teams headed to the final quarter of action.
After Barrie hit a triple to open the 4th quarter's scoring and make the score 50-48, UF made a little run and built a 10-point lead at 58-48 with 6:01 remaining.
Saginaw Valley worked its way back, using back-to-back triples from Kaitlyn Zarycki and Maddie Maloney to trim the deficit to 62-59 with 2:21 to play.
There would be no more scoring in the game and a pair of three-point attempts for SVSU inside of 10 seconds fell no good and the Oilers escaped with the narrow three-point victory.
Inside the Boxscore
- Barrie finished with a team-high 14 points in the game and three rebounds.
- Maloney racked-up a career-high eight assists to go along with her nine points, five rebounds and three steals.
- Aaliah Hill had a dozen points with a team-best seven rebounds. She added five steals, four assists and two blocks.
- Ashley Buchholz posted 10 points and matched Hill's team-high seven boards.
- Zarycki added eight points off the bench for SVSU.
- Findlay posted a 40-18 edge in the paint while SVSU's bench outscored the Oilers' 14-10.
- UF out-rebounded SV 45-39 and had a 41.7% - 30.9% advantage in shooting percentage.
From Head Coach Jenny Pruett
"We came out of the gate and had an incredible first quarter. We got them out of their comfort zone and were confident shooters. I'm proud of the fight all the way to the end. We had some open shots that just didn't fall. This team has heart and that's something you can't coach. We will learn from this and be ready for the next test on Thursday!"
Up Next...
SVSU hosts Lake Erie on Thursday (Nov. 14) in the team's first home game of the 2019-20 season. Tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m. at O'Neill Arena.
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