The Basics
Score: St. Joseph's (Ind.) 76 - Saginaw Valley 70 (Final - 2 OT)
Records: SJC (1-1) | SVSU (0-2)
Location: Richard F. Scharf Alumni Fieldhouse - Rensselaer, Ind.
RENSSELAER, Ind. - Playing in the second game of the 2015 GLIAC / GLVC Challenge, the SVSU women's basketball team was faced with another tough matchup against the St. Joseph's College Pumas on Sunday (Nov. 15) evening. Despite holding a lead throughout much of the game and leading by as many as nine in the third quarter, the Lady Cardinals fell in double overtime by a final score of 76-70 to the Pumas.
SVSU used five Emily Wendling points to build an 11-8 lead after the opening quarter of play. Four points each from Anna Hall and Halee Nieman in the second quarter aided the Cards in posting a 16-13 edge in the second quarter, sending the visitors into the halftime break with a 27-21 lead.
The Pumas had a big third quarter, outscoring SVSU by a 23-16 count to make the score 44-43 in their favor after 30 minutes of play. Wendling added eight more points for the Cards in the frame while Danielle Carriere chipped-in with five.
Trailing by a single point heading into the fourth quarter, SV recorded a 15-14 advantage to knot the score. The teams were tied four different times in the final frame, the fourth time coming when Hall hit a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and tie the game at 58-58 to force overtime.
Both teams scored six points in the opening five-minute overtime session, with Hall scoring four of SVSU's six, including a layup that put the visitors up 64-62 at the 1:14 mark. The Pumas responded on the next possession with a made jumper and knotted the game at 64-all. That's where it would stand and the game would require another overtime session to decide things.
The teams traded the lead a pair of times and Saint Joe's Lauren Davis made a layup that put the home team up 70-68 with just 1:57 to play in the second extra session. A couple of failed possessions by the Cardinals wrapped around another for the Pumas would be put to an end when Kalea Parks hit on a pair of free throws to extend the St. Joe's lead out to 72-68. Saginaw Valley was forced to foul after a missed three-point attempt and Davis added another pair of freebies for the Pumas to make the score 74-68. A Whelan jumper with six seconds left cut the deficit to 74-70 but two more Davis freebies with four ticks left on the clock helped the home team hold a 76-70 edge, which is what the final score would remain.
Inside the Boxscore
- Wendling posted another double-double for the Cards, recording 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She added a pair of blocked shots in the contest as well.
- Hall had 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the game while playing a team-high 46 minutes. She was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc in the game.
- Grace Whelan added eight points and seven rebounds while Carriere had seven points, a team-high six assists and three boards.
- Saginaw Valley out-shot the Pumas by a margin of 36.2% (25-69) to 32.9% (24-73) and held a 23-20 edge in bench scoring.
- St. Joe's posted a 58-46 advantage on the glass and 32-24 edge in points in the paint.
- The Pumas shot 78.1% (25-32) from the charity stripe while SVSU shot just 53.6% (15-28) from the line.
- The game had 13 ties and eight lead changes in the back-and-forth affair.
Meijer "Player of the Game"
Hall earned Player of the Game honors after hitting the buzzer-beater to tie the game at 58-58 and send the game into overtime. Those were three of her 17 points. She added six boards, four assists and three steals in her second career game.
Up Next for Saginaw Valley
The Lady Cardinals play next at the 2015 GLIAC / GLVC Tournament, hosted by Missouri S&T. SVSU plays LeMoyne-Owen Friday (Nov. 20) at 6:30 p.m. eastern time and the host Miners Saturday (Nov. 21) in a 5:30 p.m. tip.