UNIVERSITY CENTER - The SVSU women's basketball team got off to a solid start on Tuesday evening (Dec. 16) against Lake Erie, holding a 10 point lead with a 32-22 score heading into halftime. The Lady Cardinals could not maintain that lead, however, as the Storm posted a 34-22 advantage in the second period and claimed a 56-54 victory as a last-second, game-winning three point attempt from SVSU fell no good.
The Lady Cards jumped out to a quick lead and did not relinquish that advantage for the entire opening half.
Senior Samantha Zirzow netted the first four points of the game, giving SV a 4-0 advantage at the 17:59 mark of the first half.
After Lake Erie cut the lead to a single point with the score at 6-5 at the 15:20 marker, the Lady Cards rattled-off six straight points and extended their lead to seven (12-5) at the 13:10 marker.
Saginaw Valley would work the lead out to nine points following a pair of buckets from seniors Shelby Herrington and Briana Graham to make the score 25-16 with with just 3:35 left to play in the opening period.
The Lady Cardinals held a seven point advantage with the score 29-22 and baskets from Graham and Zirzow rounded-out the scoring for the half, giving SV its largest lead of the period at 32-22 with just 25 ticks left on the clock.
That 10 point lead would hold true for Saginaw Valley as it went into the halftime break leading by that same 32-22 score.
SVSU held the edge in points in the paint for the opening 20 minutes with a 14-10 mark and scored 15 points off turnovers compared to just four for the Storm. The Cards shot an even 50% (12-24) in the first half while holding the Storm to a 28% clip (7-25).
Zirzow had 10 points in the first half while junior Danielle Carriere had seven. Sophomore Emily Wendling grabbed six boards in the frame.
An opening layup from Zirzow in the second half gave the Cards their largest lead of the game of 12 points at 34-22.
Lake Erie then went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 34-29 at the 17:17 mark and the visitors would grab their first lead after scoring 15 points in a row to make the score 46-36 with 11:28 left to play.
A 7-0 run from SV cut the Storm advantage to 48-44 at the 8:42 mark of the contest. The Lady Cardinals would then overcome another 10 point lead and score 10 consecutive points to knot the game at 54-54 with just 1:40 left to play. Junior Alex Green began the run with a jumper and capped it off with a layup for the tie.
After the teams traded turnovers, Lake Erie got a bucket from Kayla Gabor to take a 56-54 lead with 34 seconds left.
A turnover and foul from SVSU gave the Storm's Chloe Irish a one-and-one free throw opportunity and she failed to convert on the front end.
That would give Saginaw the ball back and, after a timeout, the Cards owned possession with a chance to tie or win the game.
The home team was able to get off a solid shot, as freshman Jessica Alexander had a great look for three from the top-left wing. The shot hit off the rim and fell no good though and the Storm escaped with the two point victory, 56-54.
Lake Erie held a 20-7 edge in points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes of play. Both teams shot close in field goal percentage, as SV had a 45.2% mark (19-42) and the Storm posted a 43.1 percentage (22-51), using a 57.7 percentage in the second half. The Lady Cards finished with a 31-27 edge on the glass and 24-20 advantage in points in the paint.
Zirzow had a team-high 16 points with three assists and two rebounds. She was 5-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, earning Meijer "Player of the Game" plaudits for her efforts.
Wendling grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points for SVSU while Carriere netted nine points, four rebounds and three helpers. Green chipped-in with seven points, a pair of assists and a rebound.
The Cardinals fall to 4-5 overall and 0-4 in the GLIAC while Lake Erie improves to 6-3 and 2-2 in league play.
Saginaw Valley returns home Sunday (Dec. 21) for a non-conference game against Marygrove College. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm in SVSU's O'Neill Arena. The teams met last year in O'Neill Arena with the Lady Cardinals posting a 103-45 victory on November 27th.
