FAIRBANKS, Alas. - Coming off a victory on Thanksgiving against the tournament host Alaska Nanooks, the Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team moved to 2-0 at the 2014 North Star Invitational after posting a 74-47 win over the Colorado Christian University Cougars on Friday night (11/28) in Fairbanks.
After a close first half where the Lady Cardinals carried a slim 31-29 advantage heading into the break, SVSU pulled away with a big second half, outscoring the Cougars 43-18 to claim the 27-point victory. It was the third straight victory for Saginaw Valley, which will play its third and final game of the tournament Saturday against Augustana (S.D.) at 6:00 pm ET.
The Cardinal ladies fell behind after a quick bucket by the Cougars but grabbed the lead and built it out to 8-4 at the 14:34 mark after senior Shelby Herrington made a layup.
Colorado Christian knotted the score at 8-8 but SV would respond and hold a 15-10 advantage when fellow senior Samantha Zirzow made good on a layup with 8:14 left in the half.
The Cougars answered right back, however, and went on a 9-0 run to grab a 19-15 advantage with 5:39 remaining in the opening frame. It is the largest lead the night's visiting team would hold for the entire contest.
The Cards responded with a 9-0 run of their own, making the score 24-19 after freshman Hailey Krewald capped the run off with a pair of free throws with 3:44 showing on the clock.
CCU would cut the lead to one point but Saginaw Valley worked its lead back out to five points a couple of times and carried the two point lead into the halftime break at 31-29.
Junior Danielle Carriere had eight first half points and four rebounds to lead the Lady Cards while Zirzow had seven points and sophomore Emily Wendling had six and three boards.
After the teams traded buckets and the lead to begin the second half, SVSU would take a 35-33 edge after a Carriere layup and the Cards would not look back from there.
Leading by a score of 50-44 after the Cougars had a layup to cut into the Cardinal advantage, SVSU rattled-off 16 points in a row to pull away and make the score 66-44 with 5:10 left to play in the game.
CCU notched the next three points to make the score 66-47 at the 3:24 marker but that was all the scoring the Cougars could muster in the game as SV scored the next eight and closed out for the 74-47 victory.
The win improved Saginaw Valley's record to 3-1 overall on the young 2014-15 season while dropping the Cougars to 0-5.
Carriere finished with game-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds, earning Meijer "Player of the Game" honors for her efforts. She added two assists and three steals, going 7-of-14 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Wendling had 16 points and six rebounds while Zirzow had double-digits in scoring as well, netting 15 points while adding three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Junior Alex Green added nine points and five boards while Herrington posted eight points and six rebounds.
SVSU posted a 43-23 edge on the glass and a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint.
As mentioned earlier, Saginaw Valley takes on Augustana (S.D.) in a 6:00 pm eastern time contest on Saturday (11/29) in the tournament finale for both teams.