BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program started their last road trip of the regular season Thursday night as they traveled to play No. 4 Ferris State University. The Cardinals (8-16, 5-9 GLIAC) took home a 47-44 win holding the Bulldogs (17-3, 11-2 GLIAC) to over 30 points under their average scoring per game.
Saginaw Valley got scoring across the board. Eight points for both Tyler Scheid and Lydia Meredith along with seven by Aleshia Jones and Victoria Stafford. Six points as well for Jessica Massey and Emma Dziezgowski. Saniaa Walker led with six rebounds and Meredith totaled three steals. The Cardinals worked the glass out rebounding Ferris 39-28. SVSU also held the Bulldogs to 30.4% shooting from the floor and 11.1% from beyond the arc.
SVSU started with the lead with Meredith laying in the first bucket of the game. The Bulldogs took a one-point lead off three free throws before Massey hit her first shot for a 4-3 Cardinal lead. FSU took the first big lead of the game with an 11-0 run. Dziezgowski hit one of her two threes to cut the lead to four before the end of the first.
A bucket for Ferris started the second quarter before Makayla Mau hit a three with her only shot of the contest. A 6-2 Bulldog run pushed the lead to seven, but Scheid hit two buckets late in the half to bring the score to 24-21 FSU heading into the locker room.
Ferris came out with a 4-0 run to extend the lead to seven once again. Massey put down two shots from the charity stripe and a layup along with Scheid's third bucket made it a one-point game 28-27. Both teams traded buckets before a three for the Bulldogs ended the quarter with a four-point lead.
The fourth quarter was the key for SVSU winning the frame 16-9. Scheid and Stafford both hit two free throws to tie the game 35-35. However, a 5-0 run for Ferris pushed them back out in front. Jones drained a three to respond along with two free throws from Walker knotted the game at 40-40. FSU took a two-point lead before a Stafford free throw led to Meredith's layup to give Saginaw Valley the lead with 30 seconds to go. Two trips to the line for Jones put four more on the board for SVSU as they secured the three-point victory.
With the win, SVSU moves into the seven-seed in the GLIAC. They finish the road trip on Saturday heading up to the upper peninsula to play the Lake Superior State Lakers (1-21, 0-13 GLIAC). Tip-off from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan is set for 1:00 PM EST.
