UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team pulled off a suspenseful defeat 54-53 against Purdue Northwest in a nail-biting final quarter. The Cardinals (7-3, 2-1 GLIAC), now 2-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), had an impressive fight to take home the win in the final minutes of play.
Tori DePerry poured in a game-high of 22 points, nine rebounds, and four assists to lead the victory over the Pride (4-8, 0-4 GLIAC) on Sunday afternoon. Freshmen Emma Dziezgowski joined DePerry in the double-digits with 12 additional points added to the Cardinals' win against The Pride. SVSU outscored PNW 39-30 in the second quarter with a 17-3 run that held the Pride scoreless 6 minutes into the quarter.
The Cardinals got things started strong with a made layup in the first minute of the quarter. A three-point jumper made by Senior Jessica Massey gained the lead for the Cardinals with 6:21 remaining. DePerry sunk in four back-to-back free throws in the final two minutes of the quarter, bringing the score to 20-16 at the end of the first.
Dziezgowski started out hot with back-to-back points to ignite a 17-3 run for the Cardinals. The Pride cut the lead to 37-21 after the first media timeout. However, a rebound and an assist by DePerry helped push the Cardinals' lead to 39-30 as both teams entered the locker room at the half.
SVSU got things going right away with a made layup from DePerry, followed by a three-point jumper from Dziezgowski in the second half. The final four minutes of the third quarter remained scoreless (48-41) until Dziezgowski hit a layup off a turnover by Purdue Northwest with 0:28 remaining.
The Cardinals extended the lead 52-44 with a made layup to fire up the fourth quarter. Both teams went without a field goal until 2:28 seconds left of the game, with a layup made by the opposing team. The Pride cut the deficit to 54-50 with only 1:27 remaining. The Cardinals battled hard to keep their win and held their lead to 54-53 in a victory against Purdue Northwest.
UP NEXT
The SVSU women's basketball team will be on the road this Saturday, December 17, at Barry. Tipoff against the Buccaneers is set for 1:00 PM.
