ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team opened its 2013-14 regular season on the road at the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge, hosted by Lewis University. SVSU squared-off with the host school on Saturday (Nov. 9), falling by a final score of 82-76 to the 18th nationally-ranked Flyers.
As the Lady Cardinals faced a 6-5 deficit in the opening half at the 15:26 mark, they scored eight consecutive points to grab a 14-6 lead, with the drive being capped-off by a jumper from senior guard Kayla Womack.
Saginaw Valley would hold the lead until the score was 17-16, as that's when the Flyers took the lead back on a made layup to turn the score 18-17 in their favor.
That lead held true until there was 3:53 remaining in the opening half, when a jumper from junior forward Shelby Herrington found the bottom of the net to knot the score at 29-29.
Lewis took the lead after that and held it heading into the halftime break with the score 38-35 in its favor.
Womack and fellow senior guard Kristen Greene led the first half scoring attack for the Cards, as both players put up nine points in the first 20 minutes, with Womack adding four rebounds.
Sophomore guard Danielle Carriere made good on 2-of-3 shots from behind the arc for six first half points. SVSU was 3-of-4 from long range in the first half.
A three point play from junior forward Samantha Zirzow opened the second half scoring and tied the game at 38-38.
The Flyers took the lead once more right after and led by nine points with the score 51-42 at the 14:33 marker.
Saginaw Valley would fight back and take the lead at 62-61 on a three pointer by Greene with 7:41 left, giving the team its first lead since the 9:27 mark in the first half.
The advantage would be short-lived, however, as Lewis took the lead back on a layup on its next possession and never looked back, holding the lead throughout the game and closing-out with the 82-76 victory.
Greene finished the game with a team-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while seeing a team-high 35 minutes of action. She was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after the effort. Greene was 8-of-13 shooting and 4-of-7 from three.
Zirzow had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, narrowly missing out on a double-double.
Womack finished the night with 15 points and five rebounds and Carriere also reached double-figures in scoring with 11.
SVSU shot 50.0% from the field (32-64), including going 7-13 (53.8%) from beyond the three point line.
The Lady Cardinals struggled from the foul line (5-11) and were plagued by 21 turnovers.
Saginaw Valley looks to rebound Sunday (Nov. 10), as it takes on St. Joseph's College (Ind.) in a 2:00 pm match-up. The Pumas are coming off an 81-72 loss to Northwood University, a game that was played prior to SVSU's game with Lewis at the Invitational.