The Basics 

Score: Saginaw Valley 67, Northern Michigan 60
Records: SVSU (11-3, 7-1 GLIAC) | NMU (10-5, 5-3 GLIAC) 
Location: O'Neill Arena - University Center, Mich. 

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Coming off a pair of GLIAC South road victories this past weekend, the SVSU women's basketball squad kept it rolling with a 67-60 home victory over the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Thursday (Jan. 12) night at O'Neill Arena. The victory keeps the Cardinals atop the GLIAC North Division Standings with their 7-1 league record. The Wildcats entered the contest a single game behind SVSU in the league ranks.

After a pair of early ties to begin the game, SVSU used an Emily Wendling layup and Katelyn Carriere three-pointer to take a 9-4 lead with 7:19 showing on the clock in the first. The lead reached a quarter-high of six points after Carriere made good on a jumper at the 6:10 marker, pushing the score to 13-7. Leading 15-11 with just over a minute left in the first quarter, SVSU would see the visiting Wildcats close the frame with back-to-back buckets, putting the score at 15-15 at the end of the first.

Wendling took a brief lead for the home team to begin the second quarter at 17-15, but Northern Michigan responded with a 10-0 run to grab the advantage and put the score at 25-17 with 5:20 left to play in the half. That would be its largest lead of the contest. Four straight points from Carriere trimmed the deficit to 25-21 with 4:00 showing on the clock and a jumper from Abby Duffy and three-pointer from Halee Nieman would knot the score for the final time at 26-26 with just 1:28 showing on the clock. Baskets from Carriere and Wendling would be added from there despite a single made foul shot for the Wildcats, giving the home team a three-point lead entering the half, 30-27.

Saginaw Valley would increase the edge from there, eventually making their lead double-digits for the first time when Duffy connected on a triple to make the score 41-31 with 5:26 on the clock in the third quarter. The Wildcats worked their way back to drop their deficit to just two points (41-39) after an 8-0 run. A pair of free throws from Wendling and layup from Carriere would push the lead to six points at 45-39 with 1:18 showing. NMU got a jumper in response, finishing the quarter trailing by a 45-41 mark.

A triple from Hannah Settingsgaard opened the scoring for the final quarter, giving the Cards a 48-41 lead just 17 seconds in. They would continue to lead from there, making the lead double-digits again and holding their largest lead of the game at 11 points (65-54) with just 30 seconds left after Nieman made good on a pair from the line. A late triple from the Wildcats cut into that with 17 seconds left to play, but the score would finish at 67-60 after another pair of freebies from Wendling and another three from NMU.

Inside the Boxscore 

• Wendling was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after registering her second double-double of the season. She finished with 23 points and a season-best 11 rebounds in her season-high 35 minutes of action.  
• Carriere had a stellar game as well, notching 19 points with five assists, three rebounds and five steals. The five steals matches a season and career-high. She didn't commit a turnover from the guard position.
• Duffy went for 13 points and five rebounds. She added two steals, a block and assist. 
• Nieman added seven points, three boards, a pair of assists and a steal.
• Settingsgaard had three points, three boards, three assists and two steals while Francesca Coury rounded-out the team's scoring with two points and an assist. 
• The game featured five ties and three lead changes. Saginaw Valley led for the final 20:47 of the contest. 
• The Cardinals went 10-of-10 from the free throw line within the final 1:19 of play in the victory.
• SV held a narrow 33-32 edge in rebounding and the Wildcats held a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint. 

From Head Coach Jamie Pewinski

Up Next... 

Saginaw Valley has another home game on Saturday (Jan. 14), as the Cards host Michigan Tech at 1:00 p.m. in O'Neill Arena. The Huskies (10-3, 6-2 GLIAC) are right behind SVSU in the GLIAC standings and are coming off a 66-64 victory at Wayne State on Thursday night.    

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