UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program fell 63-50 to the Northern Michigan Wildcats Thursday evening. The Cardinals (9-17, 6-10 GLIAC) shot over 40% from beyond the arc and totaled 12 steals but couldn't overcome the Wildcats (17-7, 11-4 GLIAC).
SVSU was led offensively by the Meijer Player of the Game, Victoria Stafford, with 17 points. Jessica Massey was the other double-digit scorer with 12 points. Massey added four rebounds and two steals to her stat line. Saniaa Walker scored seven along with six from Lauren Sollom. Lydia Meredith led with six rebounds, three on the offensive side.
"A tale of two different halves..." said head coach Jenny Pruett after the game.
The Cardinals were outscored by seven and 11 in the first two quarters falling behind by 18 at the half. The first quarter started with a bucket for Northern Michigan before Stafford hit a three for a 3-2 lead. The roles reversed with a three for the Wildcats and a layup by Stafford to tie the game 5-5. The Wildcats used a 9-0 run to open up the game and go ahead 14-5. Two Sollom threes led to a 6-2 SVSU run to cut into the lead before a jumper ended the quarter for Northern Michigan up 18-11.
Saginaw Valley's offense struggled in the second quarter. A 3-2 Cardinal run started the frame. NMU stretched the lead with a 12-2 run making it 32-16 Wildcats. A free throw by Massey was answered by a three pointer with under a minute in the half. That was the last of the scoring in the first 20 minutes as the teams went to the locker room with Northern Michigan up 35-17.
The Wildcats continued in the second half with a 7-1 run to make it 42-18. A layup from Walker and a Stafford jumper answered. Walker hit a jumper and converted on the and-one opportunity to make it 47-25. SVSU kept chipping away with a 6-2 run with all six points coming from Stafford. A Northern Michigan layup plus two points from the charity stripe for Stafford ended the quarter with a 51-33 Wildcat lead.
The Cardinals won the fourth quarter 17-12 but couldn't make the full comeback. A 5-0 run started the quarter with a Massey three and a layup from Aleshia Jones. NMU responded with a 9-0 run to stretch the lead back to 22. Twelve of the final 15 points of the game went to Saginaw Valley with the three NMU points all coming from free throws. Massey put up eight of the 12 with a pair of buckets plus a three and a free throw. Walker hit the final shot of the game, but the Wildcats took home the 13-point victory.
After the loss, the Cardinals look to Saturday when they host the Michigan Tech Huskies. It is the second to last home game of the regular season with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 PM EST from O'Neill Arena.
