DETROIT – The Saginaw Valley State women's basketball team defeated Walsh 61-54 on the first day of the Wayne State Holiday Tournament on Tuesday evening. Senior Kaitlyn Zarycki led the way for the Cardinals with 25 points and seven steals in the winning effort.

Senior Tori DePerry contributed 17 points and six rebounds to help SVSU to the victory. Sophomore guard Saniaa Walker led the Cardinals with seven boards while also tallying six points on the evening. Senior Jessica Massey was the Cardinals' leading playmaker with a game-high seven assists.

Walsh got things going with a three-point jumper in the first minute of play to hop out to a 3-0 lead. DePerry hit back-to-back layups to give SVSU its first lead, 4-3. The Cavaliers made another shot from distance to reclaim the lead, 6-4, with 8:02 left in the first quarter. A 7-2 run gave the advantage back to Walsh, who held for a 21-17 edge at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

DePerry sparked a 7-0 run with a layup in the first 42 seconds of the second quarter to guide the Cardinals to a 24-21 lead with 7:21 left in the half. Walsh hit a jumper to cut the deficit to one point before reclaiming the lead 2:23 later off a layup from Morgan McMillen. DePerry made another clutch layup to retake the lead for SVSU as the Cardinals would hold a 32-27 advantage as the teams entered the locker room at the half.

Zarycki hit a layup to spark a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the second half to create the only double-digit lead of the game, 39-27. Six-straight points from the Cavaliers cut the SVSU lead to five points with 2:49 left in the third frame. McMillen then made both free throws and a three-pointer to spark a run at the end of the quarter for a 46-42 lead.

DePerry, Victoria Stafford, and Zarycki each hit layups to start an 11-0 run that flipped the momentum back to the Cardinals in the opening four minutes of the final quarter. Walsh climbed back within a basket of the lead, but Zarycki made a jumper through contact and finished with the and-one to hold onto the lead with just over three minutes left. DePerry made a jumper to extend the margin to seven, and SVSU made free throws down the stretch to improve to 3-2 on the season.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals will play Carson-Newman on day two of the Wayne State tournament. Tipoff against the Eagles is slated for 1:00 PM.