KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team fell by a final score of 83-77 to the Parkside Rangers in a road GLIAC match-up on Saturday (Jan. 4) afternoon.
The Cardinas opened the first quarter of play with solid offensively, as Ashley Buchholz hit a three-pointer that would put SVSU up by 12 with a count of 16-4. Parkside would fight back as Saginaw Valley was outscored by the Rangers 12-3 in the last four minutes of the first quarter. SVSU ended the frame with a one-point lead of 19-18.
The Rangers rode the momentum from the end of the first quarter through the second as they held the Cardinals to just one basket and took a 10-point lead. The Cardinals went point-for-point with the Rangers but could not gain any ground. Saginaw Valley entered the locker room down 41-30 to Parkside.
The Cardinals made second half adjustments in the locker room and entered the third quarter a different team. Kaitlyn Geers found her groove and went for nine points, bringing the Cardinals within three of the Rangers. At the end of the third quarter, Parkside led 54-51.
The Rangers made adjustments at the end of the third quarter and opened the final quarter of play going on a 7-0 run and extended their lead by a count of 61-54. Parkside held the largest lead of the game 74-61 at the five minute mark in the fourth quarter. SVSU would go on a late 6-0 run on the Rangers but it was not enough, as SVSU fell by the final of 83-77.
Inside the Boxscore
- Geers led the Cardinals in scoring with 20 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. She added five rebounds for the visitors. The 20 points is a new career-high for Geers.
- Buchholz and Kaitlyn Zarycki both hit double-digit scoring for SVSU, adding 18 and 14, respectively. Zarycki grabbed a game-best eight boards and six assists while Buchholz had five boards and three helpers. Zarycki was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- Maddie Maloney and Maddie Barrie each netted 10 points, with Barrie notching four rebounds and Maloney adding five assists, three boards and three steals.
From Head Coach Jenny Pruett
"Very proud of how we bounced back from Thursday's game. We were ready to go. We stuck to a game plan and played really well. Our shooting percentages were just where we want them to be; 50%FG, 40% 3pt, and 82% FT. But when you have a glaring statistic like 23 turnovers it's going to be hard to win, even when you shoot as well as we did."
Up Next...
SVSU is back in action Thursday (Jan. 9), as they host the Lake Superior State University Lakers with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m at the James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena.