HAMMOND, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program started their two-game road trip Thursday night facing off against Purdue Northwest. The Cardinals (6-14, 37 GLIAC) fell to the Pride (9-11, 4-6 GLIAC) with a final score of 76-66.

The Cardinals were led by Aleshia Jones with 25 points, the most for her since the season opener when Jones scored 34 against Northwood. Victoria Stafford had 19 points while Lydia Meredith led the team in rebounds with six and tied with three steals with Saniaa Walker.

The Cardinals shot 40.7% from the floor and 38.9% from beyond the arc as Jones tied a career-high with six made threes shooting 6-9. Saginaw Valley led in steals 8-4 but lost the battle in the paint as Purdue Northwest led 48-26 in points in the paint.  

Jones started the scoring with a triple and after two Pride buckets, she drained her second putting SVSU up 6-4. Jones made a jumper scoring the first eight Cardinal points before a 10-0 run for PNW put them ahead 17-8. Meredith converted on an and-one along with a free throw from Jones cut the lead to five points. Another three from Jones along with a Stafford free throw rounded out the scoring for Saginaw Valley as Purdue Northwest ended the first quarter up 25-16.

The second quarter was a responsive one for SVSU. A 9-3 run for the Cardinals in the middle of the quarter coming from two buckets and two free throws by Stafford and a three pointer by Tyler Scheid brought SVSU within eight, down 33-25. The Cardinals ended the first half on a 5-2 run as Jones got a pull up jumper to fall along with two free throws by Emma Dziezgowski and one by Makayla Mau. The Pride held a 37-33 lead heading into halftime.

Stafford and Jones both made layups to start the third bringing Saginaw Valley within two points. The Pride took advantage of a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 45-37. Late in the quarter, a 12-3 explosive run for the Cardinals got them back to within two as they got buckets from Stafford and Dziezgowski and another three from Jones. The Pride made the final shot of the quarter to head to the final frame up 55-51.

Two Stafford points from the charity stripe along with the sixth three by Jones brought the Cardinals within one. A small run for the Pride extended their lead to four before Stafford and Meredith hit a shot each to tie the game up 64-64. After a timeout, Purdue Northwest took the slim advantage again, but the Cardinals stuck close with Lauren Sollom getting her first points of the game off a layup. In the final minutes, the Pride used an 8-0 run with four free throws to push their lead back to double digits.

Saginaw Valley women's basketball heads to Wisconsin to play the Parkside Rangers (11-6, 6-3 GLIAC) with a 2:00 PM EST tip on Saturday, February 3. The Cardinals beat UWP 69-49 at home in the last meeting back on January 4.