UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley women's basketball team got back to the .500 mark and into the playoff hunt as they pulled out an 81-77 Valentine's Day overtime victory against Northern Michigan University.

SVSU (11-11, 9-9 GLIAC) tied the game at 6-6 after four minutes of play on a Danielle Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) three-pointer. NMU (11-11, 9-9 GLIAC) scored the next four points to go up 10-6 with 14:28 minutes to play in the opening half.

The Cardinals tied their largest lead of the half, going up 19-16, on an Emily Wendling (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing HS) layup with eight minutes remaining in the half.

However, Saginaw Valley went cold from the field and fell behind by five points (28-23) with 3:32 remaining before a 6-2 finish cut the Cardinal deficit to 30-29 at the half.

The first half was filled with back-and-forth action as the lead changed 11 times. The Cardinals were paced in the first half by Wendling, who led the team in both points (10) and rebounds (6).

SVSU came out strong in the second half and took a 35-33 lead on an and-one three-point play by Katelyn Carriere (London, Ontario / John Paul II) after two minutes of play.

The next six minutes saw intense action with two ties and two lead changes as both teams battled within three points of one another.

Saginaw Valley then went on a 14-7 run capped by a Samantha Zirzow (Goodrich, Mich. / Goodrich HS) layup to take their biggest lead of the game at 60-54 with 8:25 remaining.

The Cardinal lead was slowly trimmed away and a Wildcat layup with 44 seconds to go put SVSU down by three points (72-69).

On the ensuing possession, Wendling took a pass while driving to the left side of the paint, made the bucket, and was fouled. After completing the three-point play, the game was tied at 72-72 with 34 seconds on the game clock.

A Saginaw Valley defensive stop on Northern Michigan's final possession in regulation forced the contest into overtime, the third such occurrence for the Cardinals this season.

On the first two SVSU possessions in overtime, SVSU took a five-point lead with after an Emily Wendling layup and a triple from Katelyn Carriere. The Lady Cardinals never looked back using tough defense down the stretch to come away with the 81-77 Valentine's Day conference victory. 

Meijer 'Player of the Game' Emily Wendling finished the contest with her eighth double-double of the year posting a game-high 25 points to go with a team-high 11 rebounds. 

SVSU benefited from another strong performance by Katelyn Carriere, who scored 18 points and grabbed five boards. Saginaw Valley also held a 17-7 bench points advantage, thanks to Briana Graham (Detroit, Mich. / Detroit Martin Luther King HS), who scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds.

The Cardinals fired 45.2 percent for the contest, while holding the Wildcats to just 39.7 percent. The 81 total points scored by SVSU is their second largest offensive output this season. The contest featured 11 ties and 18 lead changes.

Saginaw Valley will be back in action at home this Saturday (Feb. 16) at 3:00 PM against Michigan Tech.