KENOSHA, Wis. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team could not overcome a slow start in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday in Kenosha, Wis.

The offense struggled to get going for both teams in the first half, but the Rangers were able to build a 10-point lead in the third. The Cardinals rallied and had the ball, down two, with under 30 seconds to play. The potential game-winning 3-pointer from Kaitlyn Zarycki missed the mark and the Rangers held on for the 59-57 win.

The loss drops the Cardinals (RV) to 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the GLIAC.

How it Happened:

• The Cardinals held the Rangers off the scoreboard for the first five minutes of the game but only held a 3-2 advantage as both teams struggled to make shots in the first.
• Alyssa Nelson beat the buzzer at the end of the first for the Rangers to tie the game at 7-7.
• The Rangers scored the first five points of the second and led 17-11 with 4:15 left in the half.
• Kaitlyn Zarycki scored nine points in the second quarter, capped by a late layup to cut the Parkside advantage to 24-21 at the break. The Cardinals had seven blocks in the first half.
• Nelson connected from deep for Parkside to give the home team its largest lead of the game at 41-31 over halfway through the third.
• SVSU closed the third on a 7-0 and trailed 41-38.
• Tyler Scheid converted a 3-point play with 3:34 to play to tie the game for the first time in the second half.
• Parkside quickly responded with a 7-0 looking to put the game away. The Rangers had a fast-break layup, but Jessica Massey came out of nowhere with a thunderous block to keep the Cardinals in the game.
• Maddie Maloney made a layup to cut the deficit to two and went to the line, looking for a 3-point play, but she missed the free throw, her first miss of the season (33-of-34).
• After forcing a turnover, SVSU got the ball back, down 59-57, with 27 seconds to play. Zarycki missed from deep and the put-back from Massey was short, as the clock expired.

Inside the Box Score:

• Kaitlyn Zarycki scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Zarycki is 30 points away from 1,000 for her career with 970 after Saturday.
• Tori DePerry and Kyndall Spires each scored seven points for the Cardinals.
• Tyler Scheid added three blocks.
• The Cardinals shot 22-of-51 from the field, 4-of-17 from deep, and 9-of-14 from the line.
• Alyssa Nelson scored 23 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Rangers, who outrebounded the Cardinals 40-33 overall and 17-10 on the offensive end.

Up Next:

The Cardinals return home to face Ferris State University at 6 pm Thursday at the James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena.