UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team fell against the University of Findlay tonight (Jan. 3) by a final score of 70-61. The Cardinals fall to 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the GLIAC, while the Oilers improve to 8-3 on the year and 5-2 in the conference.

The Oilers jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the contest before the Cardinals battled back to take a 20-18 edge with 9:49 to play in the first half. 

After falling behind by as many as six points, Saginaw Valley regained the lead when Danielle Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) connected from beyond the arc to give SVSU the 31-28 advantage at the 3:28 mark.

SVSU trailed by just three points (38-35) at halftime despite committing 13 turnovers. The Cardinals fired 59.1 percent in the first half on 13-of-22 from the field, while outrebounding Findlay by a 16-10 margin. The first twenty minutes of action featured nine lead changes.

The Cardinals were unable to keep their shooting rhythm going in the second half as Findlay took a 59-48 lead with 8:22 remaining in regulation.

Emily Wendling (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing HS) cut the Oiler deficit to four (61-57) as she grabbed a big offensive rebound and capitalized on the put back opportunity with just 3:24 to play in the contest.

However, Saginaw Valley would not get any closer as Findlay came away with the victory, 70-61.

Emily Wendling finished the contest with 16 points and 14 rebounds as she recorded the fourth double-double of her freshman season. Wendling led the effort on the boards as SVSU outrebounded Findlay, 36-28.

Danielle Carriere finished with a season-high 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while her sister Katelyn Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) posted 12 points of her own on the evening.

Sophomore Samantha Zirzow (Goodrich, Mich.) also added nine points and seven rebounds in the contest. 

Findlay used their tenacious full-court defensive pressure to force SVSU into a season-high 21 turnovers. The Oilers were able to produce 30 points off of those turnovers, compared to just 10 for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will return to action this Saturday (Jan. 5) when they host Hillsdale College at 7:00 PM.