UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program hosted Wayne State for senior day and their final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (10-18, 7-11 GLIAC) honored their three seniors in Jessica Massey, Tyler Scheid, and Victoria Stafford and won 77-72 against the Warriors (16-11, 9-9 GLIAC). With Purdue Northwest losing, SVSU has sole possession of seventh place and will face Ferris State University on Wednesday for the GLIAC Quarterfinals.
Saginaw Valley was led offensively by Aleshia Jones with 23 points as she shot 15-16 from the free throw line. The Meijer Player of the Game, Lydia Meredith, had a career-high 19 points as she shot 5-8 from the floor and 9-10 from the charity stripe. Meredith also had eight rebounds and three steals. Megan McCalla shot 6-9 for her 14 points along with one three pointer and a free throw for the final double-digit scorer. The Cardinals won the game at the free throw line shooting 91.4% as they knocked down 32 of their 35 attempts, including 26 straight makes.
The Warriors got out front with an early 8-2 lead. After a 5-2 run for Wayne State, the Cardinals scored the next six with two layups from McCalla and one from Jones to make it 13-10 WSU. A three and a free throw put Wayne State up seven before a Meredith bucket and-one cut the lead to four. A layup for the Warriors and a free throw for Stafford ended the quarter with WSU up 19-14.
SVSU took their first lead of the game starting the second quarter with six straight points from the line to put them up 20-19. The teams traded buckets until a 6-0 Cardinal run pushed it to 28-23. The Cardinals got a bucket from Massey and two more free throws from Jones, but Wayne State battled and tied the game late in the first half 32-32. A layup for the Warriors was followed up by two free throws for both teams leaving WSU up 36-34 going into the halftime break.
A 4-1 run started the second half for SVSU as they took the one-point lead again. The teams rained free throws and sprinkled in some threes as Wayne State knotted the game at 42-42 before Emma Dziezgowski put the Cardinals back up by three. Another tie by the Warriors was answered by McCalla with a bucket plus the foul to make it 48-45. McCalla and Lauren Sollom both splashed a three while Wayne State stuck close, but the Cardinals held their first lead after a quarter as they were up 56-52 heading into the fourth.
McCalla and Meredith started the final quarter with a bucket each to stretch the lead to eight. An 8-0 Warrior run tied the game again. Jones made two shots and two free throws along with two points at the line from Meredith gave SVSU the 68-64 lead in the last few minutes. Down the stretch, Jones made five free throws and Meredith made four as the slim margin was held and the Cardinals finished with the five-point victory.
Women's basketball secured the seventh seed in the GLIAC tournament with the victory and will head to Ferris State University on Wednesday to start the post season. SVSU defeated FSU on the road 47-44 on February 15 and will get a chance to upset the Bulldogs once again. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM EST from Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Michigan.
