UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team fell at home to the Lake Superior State University Lakers by a score of 76-64 on Thursday (12/2). The loss drops the Cardinals to 2-4 overall on the season and 0-1 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play while Lake Superior improves to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
The Cardinals entered halftime trailing the Lakers by nine with the score 37-28. Lake Superior went on a 6-0 run to start the game, but a jumper by freshman Kristen Greene (Brown City, Mich.) at the 18:17 mark put SVSU on the board and cut the lead to 6-2. The Lakers would lead 14-6 at the 12:53 mark, but seven consecutive points by sophomore Cheritee Green (Wyoming Park, Mich.) and a layup by freshman Kayla Womack (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./North HS) would give the Cardinals their first lead of the game with 9:41 left in the half, 15-14. LSSU would re-gain the lead and use a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left in the half to extend the lead to nine points at 37-28, where the score would remain.
Green led the charge for the Cardinals in the opening 20 minutes, posting a team-high nine points and a game-high nine rebounds. Senior Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) added seven points for SVSU while junior Marah Kyle (Bluffton, Ind.) chipped-in with five points in the first half.
The two teams would exchange buckets for the first part of the second half, as Lake State used a layup to extend its lead to 10 points at 47-37 at the 15:30 mark. The Lakers would hold a 15 point lead with 14:18 remaining when the score was 52-37. Junior Morgan Hughes (Pinckney, Mich.) would then rattle-off seven points in a row to cut the Laker lead to eight points with 13:17 remaining. Lake Superior would again build a 15-point lead at 69-54 with 4:59 left in the second half after a Nicole Marshall free throw. A Kristen Greene triple and Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) three point play cut the lead to 10 with the score 74-64 with 1:46 left. Lake Superior would add another bucket and run the clock out to finish with at 12-point victory, 76-64.
Burkhardt was chosen as the Meijer "Player of the Game" after posting a team-high 15 points and five rebounds for the Cardinals. Green posted a double-double, recording 13 points and 13 rebounds. Hughes ended the night with nine points off the bench in only five minutes of action. Kyle added seven points in the contest.
SVSU will be back in action again on Thursday, as it welcomes Wayne State University to O'Neill arena for a GLIAC contest. Tip-off time is set for 8:00 pm.
