The Basics

Score: Lewis 65 - Saginaw Valley 56
Records: LEWIS (1-0) | SVSU (0-1)
Location: Richard F. Scharf Alumni Fieldhouse - Rensselaer, Ind.

RENSSELAER, Ind. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team had a tough task for the 2015-16 season opener, as the Lady Cardinals opened this year's campaign against the No. 2 team in the country, the Lewis University Flyers. The Flyers built a quick lead and SVSU cut into the deficit, but Lewis would end up posting a nine-point victory with a final score of 65-56.

The Flyers built an 11-0 lead to begin the game and Emily Wendling got the first SVSU bucket with 1:30 to play in the first quarter on a made layup. Lewis would carry a 13-4 edge after the opening 10 minutes of play.

Lewis extended the lead out to 22-4 but the Cards would out-score their opponents by a 17-3 margin the rest of the opening half, cutting the deficit to 25-21 heading into the halftim break.

Emily Wendling led the team offensively in the first 20 minutes of play, scoring eight points while adding six rebounds. Anna Hall added five points in the first half for SVSU. Halee Nieman added three assists and a pair of steals in the opening frame.

SVSU continued the fine play and grabbed its first lead of the contest at the 8:21 point in the third quarter when Wendling made good on another layup that made the score 28-27.

Lewis, however, would grab the advantage back and hold a 46-39 edge after the third quarter.

The closest the Cards would get the rest of the way was with 6:57 to play when Jessica Alexander hit a pair of free throws to make the score 50-42 in Lewis's advantage. Trailing by 19 (65-46), SVSU ended the game with 11-straight points, eight coming from Alex Green, butthe Flyers would seal the nine-point victory at 65-56.

Inside the Boxscore

• Wendling opened the season with a double-double, scoring a team-high 16 points and adding a team-best 11 rebounds.
• Green also reached double-digits in scoring, notching 13 points.
• Anna Hall added eight points in her first collegiate contest while Tori Lennartz had six boards in her first game as well.
• Lewis shot 40.7% (24-59) from the floor while SVSU was 19-of-53 (35.8%).
• The Flyers won the battle on the glass with 39 rebounds compared to 34 for SV.
• Lewis held the edge in points in the paint (28-24) while the Cardinals posted a 10-2 advantage in bench points.

From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski

"There were moments in the game where we played very well and were able to dominate the game on both ends of the floor. Unfortunately, we weren't able to contain their best players for enough of the game. Overall, it was a good start and we learned a lot about ourselves, that we hopefully can correct going into tomorrow's game."

Up Next for Saginaw Valley

SVSU continues at St. Joseph's Sunday (Nov. 15) and will face the host Pumas at 5:00 p.m. eastern time.