Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

Women's Basketball

Cardinals Fall in Close Battle to Findlay

Cardinals Fall in Close Battle to Findlay
Posted: Nov 09, 2024

FINDLAY, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program continued the opening road trip of the season as they headed to the University of Findlay. The Cardinals (1-1) fell to the Oilers (3-2) with a final score of 65-56.

Aleshia Jones and Megan McCalla led all scorers as Jones put up 18 and McCalla put up 14. The Cardinals tallied 13 steals compared to the Oilers eight with Saniaa Walker tallying four and Jones adding three. Jones also led the team with seven of their 28 rebounds. Saginaw Valley shot 21-51 from the floor with one more bucket and one more attempt than Findlay.

The Oilers took an early lead before Emma Dziezgowski hit a three and McCalla sunk a layup to go up 7-4. Two Oiler threes followed by a 9-2 run for Findlay in the final minutes of the first quarter put them ahead 21-14.

The seven-point lead held through the second quarter as both teams put up 14 points. A 7-0 run for Findlay pushed the lead to 11. Both teams traded buckets before Saginaw Valley put up a 5-0 run to cut into the lead before the half.

Saginaw Valley came out of the break with an 8-0 run to cut into the lead as Ava Locklear and McCalla made buckets and Dziezgowski drained another three to make it a one-point lead. After an Oiler bucket, a 9-0 SVSU run put the Cardinals ahead by six as Jones and McCalla scored another bucket each and Lauren Sollom sunk a three and a jumper in the final minute of the quarter. A free throw for the Oilers to end the quarter left SVSU ahead 45-40.

The third quarter was the best for Saginaw Valley and the fourth quarter was the best for Findlay, outscoring the Cardinals 25-11 in the last 10 minutes. A 6-3 run for the Oilers cut into the advantage to bring it to 48-46 SVSU. The teams traded buckets and leads until Jones and Addisyn Freeman of Findlay both sunk threes and Findlay was ahead 57-55. Down the stretch, UF sunk six free throws for an 8-1 run to close out.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley women's basketball splits the opening weekend of the season on the road and prepares for their home opener on Friday, November 15. SVSU hosts Hillsdale at 5:30 PM EST at O'Neill Arena.