MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team will advance to the semi-finals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament after a 64-56 victory over Northern Michigan University on Wednesday night.

Kaitlyn Zarycki led all scorers with 30 points and shot perfect from the line once again. Her consecutive made free throw streak now sits at 45. Tori DePerry added 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Cardinals. She led the contest with three steals.

SVSU got off to a slow start with the Wildcats opening the game on a 6-0 run. The Cardinals answered with a 6-0 run of their own to sparked jumper from Tyler Scheid. Emma Dziezgowski added a three-pointer to give the women's team its first lead of the game. Zarycki added two of her own to close out the quarter putting SVSU up by seven.

DePerry helped the Cardinals pick up right where they left off with an opening layup extending their lead. The two squads traded buckets for the remainder of the quarter until Saniaa Walker added a layup and Dziezgowski hit two from the charity stripe to end the half.

The 'Cats knocked down the first bucket of the second half, but the Cardinals answered swiftly. Jessica Massey hit a pair of free throws and then Zarycki hit a stepback jump shot to increase the separation. Northern Michigan went on an 8-4 run midway through the quarter until Lydia Meredith hit a shot from downtown Marquette to silence the crowd and end the frame giving the Cardinals a 10-point lead.

Zarycki picked up her fourth foul of the contest seven seconds into the fourth quarter and headed to the bench. DePerry scored her tenth point of the night off an inside dish from Lydia Meredith extending the lead. The 'Cats answered, going on a 10-0 run, bringing the game within two at the 5:37 mark of the final period. SVSU's defense stepped in and allowed for 12-6 run to close the game capped by Zarycki knocking down six from the line and giving the Cardinals the victory.

UP NEXT

The women's squad will faceoff against the Lakers of Grand Valley State University on Saturday, March 4 in Allendale, Mich. in a semi-final contest with a trip to the conference championship on the line.