UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State women's basketball team (5-2) defeated the Tiffin Dragons (3-4) with a score of 59-52 to extend a four-game winning streak.
"I thought that tonight we played pretty solid," said SVSU women's basketball head coach Jenny Pruett. "The biggest takeaway tonight is the turnovers. We talk about valuing our possessions and not just the ball, how much we can do in those possessions where we turn the ball over, and how many more opportunities we have will be a big focus moving forward."
Senior Kaitlyn Zarycki poured in a game-high of 28 points and five steals to lead the Cardinals' victory. Freshmen Lauren Sollom scored nine points, and junior Victoria Stafford tallied eight points. Aside from the six boards from Zarycki, Senior Tyler Scheid and Freshmen Lydia Meredith snagged five rebounds to contribute to the team's effort in the paint.
Tiffin led the first minute of the game with a 3-0 lead until Zarycki washed it away with a layup through traffic and completed an and-one. Freshmen Lauren Sollom followed with a jumper to begin a 9-2 run that pushed the lead to 11-5 in the final 4:29 of the first quarter.
The Dragons started the second quarter with a three-point jumper to cut the deficit to three points (11-8). Zarycki scored five straight points to give the Cardinals their first double-digit lead, 23-13, with 4:39 left in the first half. Tiffin dwindled the lead to single digits before a three-point jumper by Maggie Keinsley extended the lead to 12 (28-16) with 2:05 on the clock. The Dragons hit a three in the final minute to cut the lead to 28-19 as both teams entered the locker room at the break.
Junior Victoria Stafford started the second half with a two-point jump shot to bring the score to 30-19. Tiffin had some action in the paint with made layups and a few boards but did not have the chance to break the 10-point deficit. The Cardinals held the lead for the whole 10 minutes with a total of 19 points to close, bringing the end of the quarter to a score of 47-37.
Tiffin hit a layup one minute into the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to single digits. Zaryki responded with a 3-point jumper to ignite a 12-0 run to put the score at 59-44 with 1:46 left on the clock. Tiffin put up a few buckets with 1:34 to bring the score to its final tally of 59-52.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will host another game this Saturday, December 3, inside O'Neil Arena against the Wayne State Warriors. Tipoff is set for 1:00 PM.
