UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team defeated Hillsdale College today (Jan. 5) by a final score of 63-58. The victory brings SVSU to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the GLIAC, while Hillsdale falls to 4-7 on the year and 1-7 in the conference.

Saginaw Valley struggled to find their rhythm in the first half connecting on just two of their first 20 shot attempts as they faced a 20-7 deficit with 5:35 to play before the intermission.

A pair of three-point plays from Katelyn Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) and one from Briana Graham (Detroit, Mich. / Iona College) on consecutive possessions brought the Cardinals to within five (23-18) with three minutes remaining in the first half.

SVSU entered halftime trailing 32-21 after shooting 25.9 percent while committing 12 turnovers which Hillsdale converted into 13 points.

The Lady Cardinals turned up the defensive pressure and fought back in the early minutes of the second half as they used a 7-0 run to trail 36-32 at the 14:58 mark. 

Two Samantha Zirzow (Goodrich, Mich.) buckets in the paint followed by a layup from Kayla Womack (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / North HS) helped cap off a 12-0 run with 8:10 to play as SVSU took a 48-47 edge after falling behind by as many as 11 points.

Saginaw Valley and Hillsdale continued the back-and-forth battle as Kayla Womack connected on a running jump shot, while drawing a foul in the process to give SVSU the slim 52-51 lead.

A tough bucket underneath from Samantha Zirzow gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the night at the time of three points (54-51) at the 4:48 mark of the second half.

After Hillsdale quickly regained the advantage, SVSU went ahead once again (57-55) with 3:17 to play as Meijer 'Player of the Game' Aysha Boston (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance HS) connected from the three-point arc thanks to a friendly bounce on the rim. Boston keyed the second half comeback with her intense defensive play.

Briana Graham used a swift drop-set move in the paint to juke the Hillsdale defender for the bucket to push the SVSU lead to 59-55 with 37.9 second left in regulation.

The Cardinals remained strong on the defensive end in the final seconds and sealed the 63-58 victory with free throws down the stretch as they outscored Hillsdale in the second half by a 42-26 margin.

The sweep for SVSU over Hillsdale was the first such occurrence since 1998.

Saginaw Valley can contribute their success to a 40-28 points in the paint advantage as well a 60.7 second half shooting percentage on 17-of-28 shooting. 

Kristen Greene (Brown City, Mich.) led the Cardinals offensively with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Kayla Womack and Samantha Zirzow recorded 11 points each in the comeback victory. 

The Chargers are led by 11th year head coach Claudette Charney who coached the Lady Cardinals from 1985-1995. Charney finished her 10-year coaching career at SVSU with a school record 196 wins, including two GLIAC titles.

The Lady Cardinals will return to action next Thursday (Jan. 10) when they play host to Lake Superior State. Tip is scheduled for 8:00 PM.