UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team hosted Grand Valley State University in a GLIAC North Division match-up on Saturday night (Feb. 20).   The Lady Cardinals defeated the second-place Lakers by a score of 71-51 to extend their winning-streak to three games.  

SVSU first gained the lead at the 17:44 mark in the opening half on a layup by junior forward Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) to give the Cards a 4-2 lead. The Lakers would gain a one-point lead at the 9:59 mark, when the score was 14-13 via a jumper by sophomore Kelly Kretz.  GVSU would hold one more lead the rest of the half, another one-point advantage with 8:42 left in the first 20 minutes. 

The Lady Cardinals would hold a 10-point lead with six seconds left after freshman forward Grace Herzog (Linden, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) made a tough layup to make the score 31-21.  The following in-bound pass would be stolen by SVSU freshman guard Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS), who was good on a layup to seal a 12-point halftime lead at 33-21, SVSU's biggest lead of the half.

Burkhardt led Saginaw in the opening period, scoring 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting.  Herzog had six points, six rebounds and two blocks.  Herzog's second block gave her 71 on the season, which breaks the previous SVSU single-season record of 70, set by Jennifer Hagstrom in the 2003-04 season.  Boston and fellow freshman guard Jasmine Woods (Lansing, Mich./Holt HS) each added five points in the first frame.

SVSU opened the second half on a 13-2 run before GVSU would cut the lead to 44-24 when Kretz made one of two freebies.  The Lady Cardinals would lead the rest of the way in a game where they shot 49% from the field compared to GVSU's 32%, and 27% from three while holding the Lakers to 6% from beyond the arc.  

Burkhardt led the offensive attack, scoring a season-high 31 points and grabbing five rebounds.  Herzog had 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.  She now has 75 blocks on the season.  Freshman forward Jasmine Kennedy (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) also reached double-figures in scoring, netting 10 points and grabbing five rebounds for Saginaw. 

SVSU moves to 7-18 overall on the season with a 5-15 GLIAC record, while Grand Valley falls to 17-8 overall, holding a 14-6 league record for the 2009-10 season.  The Lady Cardinals will be back in action this weekend, as they take a trip through the Upper Peninsula to take-on Northern Michigan Thursday (Feb.) 25 in a 5:30 pm contest before taking-on No.3 Michigan Tech on Saturday (Feb. 27) for a 1:00 pm tip-off time.