UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program notched back-to-back wins on consecutive days as they took down the Cedarville Yellow Jackets 68-36. It was a dominant game on the glass as SVSU out rebounded CU 52-24 with 19 offensive boards.
Emma Dziezgowski led all scorers with 16 points shooting 4-8 from the three. Aleshia Jones was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 11 points and had four rebounds and three assists. Jessica Massey led SVSU with nine rebounds while Tyler Scheid had eight, six in the offensive category. The Cardinals also had 14 steals.
Cedarville started with the lead going up 2-0 as the two teams traded blows to start. A 4-0 run for SVSU put them ahead by four with buckets from Lauren Sollom and Dziezgowski before the Yellow Jackets tied it 8-8. Saginaw Valley took advantage of having the final shot in the quarter as Victoria Stafford hit a jumper with a second left to take a 10-8 lead into the second quarter.
The Cardinals would win the second quarter with the same score as the first. The Yellow Jackets took the lead back as they went up 13-12. Saginaw Valley had a 5-0 run to claim the four-point lead coming from buckets by Jones and Makayla Mau plus a free throw by Scheid. A three pointer for Cedarville cut the game to one before Dziezgowski hit a three pointer late to put SVSU up 20-16 heading into the halftime break.
After the game, head coach Jenny Pruett talked about the halftime message.
"We talked about movement, we talked about getting the ball inside out, and that's exactly what we did. We were able to hit a few open shots…" Pruett said.
The message was shown on the floor as the Cardinals had a blow out second half outscoring the Yellow Jackets 48-20.
The third quarter started with points going both ways until a 13-2 run for Saginaw Valley extended their lead into double digits. The run came from a jumper from Stafford and Lydia Meredith before two threes by Dziezgowski and a three from Jones. Cedarville hit a three of their own to try to stay in the game, but the lead was 10 for Saginaw Valley as they headed into the fourth up 38-28.
A 5-2 run started the final frame with a bucket by Jones and an and-one conversion by Massey. Saginaw Valley took advantage of the free throw game with an 11-2 run coming off six free throws and another Dziezgowski three to push their lead to 54-34. After a bucket for Cedarville, SVSU closed out the game on a 14-0 run with Emma Riley making two free throws, two buckets from Megan McCalla, Mau and Maggie Keinsley hitting back-to-back threes, and two free throws for Keinsley to give her five points in the game.
After the win, the Cardinals won't be back home until 2024. Pruett said,
"We're road warriors. We talked about how we're going to be on the road a lot, but they are really fun trips. We're really excited about it. They're really excited to get away for a little bit."
Women's basketball heads to Hillsdale next week. The Chargers host the Cardinals on Tuesday, November 28 with tip scheduled for 5:30 PM.
