GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team defeated Davenport 62-46 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest on Thursday night. Tori DePerry was 7-12 from the floor to lead the team with 18 points.

Kaitlyn Zarycki was two assists short of a double-double, finishing with 13 points. Jessica Massey tallied 10 points and five rebounds. Saniaa Walker led the team with six rebounds and six steals while adding five points toward the victory. Emma Dziezgowski recorded nine points off the bench for SVSU.

The Cardinals used an 11-0 run to build a 13-3 lead, the game's first double-digit advantage, with 2:59 on the clock in the opening quarter. The Panthers cut the margin to seven with a three-point jumper with 2:43 left. The margin would stay in that range for the rest of the period as SVSU held the advantage as the game moved to the second.

DePerry hit a layup to start the second quarter and increase the Cardinal lead back to double-digits. A turnaround jumper by Davenport put the gap back to single digits before a 3:37 scoring drought hit both teams. Emma Dziezgowski drilled a three-point jumper with 2:08 left before halftime. Zarycki hit the final bucket with a jumper to end the half with an SVSU lead of 27-19 at the break.

 Massey made back-to-back threes to start the second half. Her second shot from beyond the arc sparked a 7-0 run that extended the Cardinal lead to 37-24. DePerry added a layup at the 2:13 mark to give Saginaw Valley State University its largest lead of the game of 17 points. SVSU maintained the edge for the rest of the third quarter.

The Panthers cut the lead to nine points, but the Cardinals rebuilt the double-digit lead and held on for the victory.

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The SVSU women's basketball team remains on the road for a GLIAC contest against Grand Valley State University on Saturday, January 14. Tip-off between the Cardinals and Lakers is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.