The Basics

Score: Saginaw Valley 74, Ursuline 64
Records: SVSU (3-0) | UC (3-1)
Location: Seidman Gymnasium - Pepper Pike, Ohio

PEPPER PIKE, Ohio - The SVSU women's basketball team took its first road trip of the young season to Ohio, as the Lady Cardinals had a regional matchup against the Ursuline Arrows on Saturday (Nov. 19) afternoon. In the contest between top regional teams and 2016 NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament participants, SVSU got off to a great start and would land a 10-point victory over the Arrows, 74-64.

The opening quarter saw the Cards go for 24 points and hold a 24-14 edge after the first 10 minutes of play. SV got out to a 7-0 run to begin the contest after three Emily Wendling buckets and a three-pointer compliments of Katelyn Carriere. The lead would grow to double-digits at 17-7 with 4:15 showing on the clock after Hannah Settingsgaard converted on a three-point play and would end up at the 24-14 point after Abby Schlicher drained a triple for SVSU with 23 seconds left. 

Ursuline would work its way back and post a narrow 21-18 advantage in the second quarter. Saginaw Valley responded to an early Arrow three-pointer with a triple from Halee Nieman and buckets from Carriere and Wendling, pushing the lead out to 31-17. The Arrows worked the deficit down to five points (40-35) with 2:18 to play in the half after a made jumper. A pair of Anna Hall free throws for the Cardinals would give the visitors a 42-35 lead, which is where it would stand heading into the halftime break. 

The home team brought the score back within five points twice, with the second time coming at the 8:29 marker with the score 46-41 in Saginaw Valley's favor. A Wendling three-point play and made jumper would push that edge back out to double-digits at 51-41 with 5:34 left in the third. SVSU remained in the lead from there until the end of the third frame, carrying a 59-53 advantage into the fourth quarter after an Arrow layup with seven seconds left in the third.

A layup from Ursuline to open play in the fourth quarter dropped the deficit down to just four points at 59-55 with 8:18 remaining in the contest. That was as close as the Arrows would get, however, as Saginaw Valley quickly moved the lead back out to nine points (64-55) after another three-point play from Wendling and a triple from Nieman that found the bottom of the net at the 6:52 point. The visitors also got three-pointers from Carriere and Jessica Alexander inside of the final three minutes and the game's scoring was capped-off by two Carriere freebies, putting the eventual final score at 74-64 with 17 seconds left. 

Inside the Boxscore

• Wendling tallied a game-high 20 points for Saginaw Valley, adding eight rebounds while being named the Meijer "Player of the Game." 
• Carriere added 17 points with two assists, a pair of steals and one rebound. She now sits just 14 points shy of 1,000 for her career in a Cardinal uniform.
• Abby Duffy posted nine points and a team-high nine boards, adding two steals.
• Hannah Settingsgaard added nine points as well for SV with three assists, a steal and rebound. 
• Nieman chipped-in with eight points, four boards and two assists in the victory.
• Hall added five boards, five assists, three steals and three points for the Cards while Alexander posted five points, three assists and tied a career-high with seven rebounds.
• SVSU posted a narrow 26-24 edge in points in the paint and had 10 fastbreak points compared to four for the Arrows. 
• The Cardinals led wire-to-wire in the win. 

From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski

"This was a hard fought win over an extremely talented Ursuline team. We had to compete on the defensive end against some really good offensive players, and we did that for 40 minutes. I'm really proud of our resilience and discipline. We stuck with the process and made winning plays down the stretch and came away with a big road win."

Up Next for Saginaw Valley

Saginaw Valley is off until Friday (Nov. 25), which is when the ladies take-off for the West Coast to compete at UC-San Diego in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament. SVSU faces the host Tritons at 8:00 p.m. on Friday and follows that game up on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. matchup with Cal State-San Marcos.

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