MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team suffered a tough 52-51 loss to Barry University in the teams' first of two games in Florida. Tori DePerry led the way for the Cardinals (7-4) with 16 points and 11 rebounds to register her fourth double-double of the year.

Emma Dziezgowski contributed 12 points on 4-12 shooting from three-point range. Jessica Massey scored nine points and added four rebounds to her totals in the losing effort.

SVSU took an early 5-2 lead before a layup cut things to 5-4 with 7:32 left in the quarter. The Buccaneers took their first lead with a 12-0 run that spanned over five minutes and put the score at 14-5 with just over two minutes in the first. The Cardinals cut the deficit to four points with a 5-0 run before the teams traded scores to an 18-13 tally in favor of Barry at the final buzzer.

The Buccaneers began the second quarter with an 8-2 run that pushed the advantage to its peak with a 26-15 score with 5:28 left in the first half. The Cardinals scored seven of the final ten points of the half as Barry held a 29-22 lead at the half.

Dziezgowski drilled a three-point jumper to spark a 5-0 run that brought SVSU within a basket of tying things up in the opening two minutes of the second half. A 6-0 run by the Bucs extended the lead to eight points, but six-straight points by the Cards brought the margin to just one with 2:45 remaining in the third stanza. Dziezgowski ended the third as she started it with a jumper from beyond the arc that tied things up at 37 as the quarter ended.

Saginaw Valley State kept things close but could not retake the lead or shift the advantage as the game ended with the slimmest of margins on the result.

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The Cardinals finish their trip in Florida with a showdown against Nova Southeastern tomorrow, December 18, at noon.