ASHLAND, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team fell to Ashland University Thursday (Feb. 11) 76-63 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match up.

The Cardinals took the lead into the locker room at half time, going up by six on an Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance HS) fast break.  Saginaw Valley was led by senior Jenna Saarela (Saugatuck, Mich.), who had nine points in the opening frame, while Rhonda Gusa (Harbor Beach, Mich. / Delta CC) had seven points and three rebounds.  Freshman Grace Herzog (Linden, Mich. / Powers Catholic HS) added six points and grabbed four rebounds, and Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central HS) had seven points.

Saginaw Valley came out of the locker room strong, maintaining the lead until 10:25 left in the contest.  Boston and freshman Jasmine Kennedy (Harper Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North HS) each posted 11 points in the game, while Saarela and Burkhardt each had nine.  Herzog chipped-in with eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.  Herzog now has 68 blocks on the year, which puts her three swats away from breaking the SVSU single season record of 70, set by Jennifer Hagstrom in the 2003-04 season.

With the loss, Saginaw Valley falls to 4-18 overall on the season and 2-15 in the GLIAC, while Ashland improves to 12-10 overall and 8-9 in conference play.  The Cardinals will return to action when they travel to Tiffin University on Saturday (Feb. 13).  Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm.