BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program opened up the GLIAC tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against the Ferris State Bulldogs at Jim Wink Arena. The Cardinals (10-19, 7-11 GLIAC) fell with a final score of 54-47 to end the 2023-24 season.

Saginaw Valley was led offensively by Aleshia Jones with 11 points and Megan McCalla with 10. Lydia Meredith had a team leading seven rebounds and four steals along with seven points. Victoria Stafford also scored seven along with Jessica Massey scoring six.

The first quarter started strong for the Cardinals as they used a 9-0 run after Ferris scored the first bucket of the game to take a seven-point lead. SVSU got their scoring from a layup and three pointer from Stafford along with a jumper by Massey and two free throws by McCalla. After the Bulldogs got their second bucket of the game, SVSU extended their lead with a 4-0 run with a Lauren Sollom jumper and Massey layup. FSU scored the final five points of the quarter as Saginaw Valley led 13-9.

Ferris State controlled the second quarter taking the lead back with a 9-2 run. Jones laid one in to make it 18-17 Bulldogs before a 10-0 run for FSU extended their lead to 11. Another shot by Jones ended the scoring in the first half and left the Cardinals trailing 28-19 heading into the locker room.

The Bulldogs pushed the lead to start the third quarter with a 4-0 run to make it 32-19. McCalla answered with a free throw and a layup which led to an 8-2 run for the Cardinals. Meredith got two shots to fall along with one from Jones and McCalla as Saginaw Valley cut the lead to 38-30 heading into the final frame.

Both teams traded buckets to start the final 10 minutes. McCalla hit a three which was followed up by a Stafford layup to make it 44-37 Ferris State. The Bulldogs extended their lead late back to 10. Tyler Scheid got her first two points with a layup to make it 47-39 with a minute left. A Meredith free throw and a Jones three answered four points from the charity stripe for Ferris. Massey was able to bring it within seven with a layup with 20 seconds remaining. Emma Dziezgowski made it 54-47 with another late layup, but the seconds ticked off and Ferris State advanced to the GLIAC semifinals.

With the loss, women's basketball wraps up the season. A 10-19 overall record and 7-11 in GLIAC play had the team finish seventh in the conference.