The Basics 

Score: Saginaw Valley 70, Walsh 53
Records: SVSU (10-3, 6-1 GLIAC) | WALSH (8-7, 4-4 GLIAC) 
Location: Alumni Arena - North Canton, Ohio 

NORTH CANTON, Ohio - The SVSU women's basketball team rounded-out regular season play against the GLIAC South Division on Saturday (Jan 7) at Walsh University. The Cardinals finished the GLIAC South Division portion of their schedule and claimed their 10th victory of the season with a 70-53 decision over the Cavaliers. 

SVSU had a big opening quarter with 23 points, carrying a 23-18 edge after the opening 10 minutes of play. The Cards opened the contest with seven straight points, using five points from Katelyn Carriere and a layup from Emily Wendling for the 7-0 lead at the 8:27 marker. After Walsh cut the deficit to 7-5, Saginaw Valley would continue on and take an eight point lead at 20-12 after a pair of free throws from Hannah Settingsgaard. Carriere would respond to a pair of Cavalier jumpers to finish the quarter with a triple, giving the visitors the 23-18 lead heading into the second quarter. 

Another Carriere three-pointer and layups from Settingsgaard and Anna Hall gave SV a 10-point lead at 30-20 with 6:28 showing on the clock in the second. A Grace Whelan free throw with 20 seconds left in the first half gave the Cardinals a 16-point lead with the score 38-22. Walsh connected on a triple with eight seconds left in the half, cutting the deficit to 38-25 heading into the break. 

A Halee Nieman three-point play early in the third quarter gave the Cards a 41-27 lead at the 9:22 marker. The Cavs would trim the lead a bit from there, but two free throws from Hall with 2:13 left in the third put the lead back at double-digits with the score 52-42. The visitors would finish the quarter with five straight points, using a Wendling layup and free throws from Nieman and Carriere to put the lead at 57-46 after a late Cavalier triple.

A Carriere free throw and Whelan jumper pushed the lead to 14 points at 60-46 with 7:44 to go in the contest. A layup from walsh cut the deficit to nine points at 60-51, and that was followed by six straight points by SVSU to put the lead at 15 points (66-51) after five points from Carriere and a free throw from Whelan with with 3:23 to play. Saginaw Valley would close-out the victory with buckets from Settingsgaard and Hall, sealing the win with a score of 70-53. 

Inside the Boxscore 

• Carriere was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after connecting on seven shots, four from beyond the arc, for a game-high 23 points. She added five rebounds and three steals in the win.
• Wendling added 14 points, four boards and a block in the contest for SVSU.
• Hall reached double-figures in scoring as well, notching 10 points with eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. The eight boards matched a season-high and it was the third time she has grabbed eight off the glass. 
• Abby Duffy had eight points with a game-high nine rebounds for the Cards. She added two assists.
• Saginaw Valley out-rebounded Walsh by a 43-26 margin in the contest and posted a 30-24 advantage in the paint. 
• The Cardinals hit on 42.3% (22-52) shots from the floor and 42.9% (6-14) of their tries from beyond the arc. 
• Saginaw Valley now sits alone atop the GLIAC North Division standings with a 6-1 league mark. The Cardinals are 10-3 overall. 

From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski

"Great team win for us today and really a great week, as we finished South Division play with two road wins. We did an excellent job fighting through some adversity and getting stops when we had to have them late in the fourth quarter. Overall, I think we grew a lot as a team this week and we look forward to getting back at it this week."

Up Next... 

The Cardinals return home to O'Neill Arena for a weekend doubleheader, beginning Thursday (Jan. 12) with a 6:00 p.m. contest against Northern Michigan University. The Wildcats are coming off 103-55 loss at Ashland University on Saturday afternoon.   

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