UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team defeated the visiting Wayne State University Warriors by a score of 61-55 on Thursday night (12/9). The victory improves the Cardinals to 3-4 overall on the season and 1-1 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play while the Warriors fall to 1-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Sophomore Jasmine Kennedy (Harper Woods, Mich./Grosse Pointe North HS) got the Cardinals on the board first with a layup at the 18:47 mark, making the score 2-0. SVSU would extend the lead to five with 10:16 left in the opening half on a layup by sophomore Grace Herzog (Linden, Mich./Powers Catholic HS), making the score 16-11. Senior Kelley Wesp (Cincinnati, Ohio/Glen Este HS) would give the Cards their largest lead of the half with 2:14 left on a layup, making the lead eight points at 30-22. A jumper by Wayne State's Lauryn Robinson at the 1:31 mark made the score 30-24, as the Cardinals would carry a six point lead into the locker room.
Freshman Kristen Greene (Brown City, Mich.) led all scorers in the first half with 11 points, including going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Senior Brittany Burkhardt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) added five points and six rebounds in the opening frame. Herzog added six rebounds and a pair of blocks for SVSU in the first 20 minutes.
SVSU would extend its lead to 11 after a layup by sophomore Cheritee Green (Wyoming Park, Mich.) at the 18:39 mark made the score 35-24. Wayne State would cut the lead to 37-34 after a jumper by Tyler Hardy with 15:49 left in the contest. A free throw by sophomore Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance HS) with 12:30 remaining gave SVSU a 13 point lead at 51-38. The Warriors would cut the lead to eight points on a Deanna Crumpton layup, making the score 54-46 with 5:52 left in the contest. Wayne State would score the next six points to cut the SVSU lead to two with 2:25 left at 54-52. SVSU would score six of the next nine points, though, and hold a 60-55 lead with 20.5 seconds left in the second frame. A free throw by junior Marah Kyle (Bluffton, Ind.) gave the Cards a 61-55 lead, which is where the score would stand with SVSU closing-out for the six point victory.
Kristen Greene was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after finishing with a game-high 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench for the Cardinals. Boston had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in the contest. Cheritee Green also reached double digits in scoring, netting 10 points and seven rebounds. Burkhardt and Kennedy both added seven points in the conference victory, with Burkhardt adding 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals will be back in action again on Saturday (12/11), as they host the University of Findlay Oilers in a GLIAC match-up. Tip-off for the contest is set for 3:00 pm.