UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball program hosted Thomas More Thursday evening. The Cardinals (5-4) defeated the Saints (4-6) 57-54 as they shot 50.0% from three with 12 of their 15 made shots being from beyond the arc.
Megan McCalla was the Meijer Player of the Game, putting up 18 points and seven rebounds. She shot 50.0% from the floor and 5-5 from three for a career-high in threes made. Lydia Meredith added 15 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Aleshia Jones was the final double-digit scorer with 10 points. Other three pointers came from Lainey Yater with two, and Beckham Hockley, and Ava Locklear with one each.
The start of the game was back and forth until an 11-2 run for SVSU put the Cardinals ahead 16-8. McCalla, Yater, and Hockley all made threes with one of the three Cardinal two-pointers coming from Jones. Thomas More took advantage late in the quarter of Cardinal turnovers and cut the lead to four.
The Saints answered in the second to take their own lead. McCalla hit a three to give SVSU a 19-18 lead before two buckets for Thomas More gave TMU their largest lead of the game at 22-19. The Cardinals responded with a 12-1 run as Jones and Meredith hit threes and McCalla drained a pair of long balls for her fourth and fifth of the game, putting Saginaw Valley ahead 31-23 at the half.
Scoring slowed in the third quarter until Jones and Yater both drilled threes and McCalla knocked down a free throw to put SVSU ahead by 14. The Saints cut into that lead with free throws and a layup, trailing 44-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Meredith hit eight of her 10 free throws in the fourth as the Saints battled back and made it close. Thomas More hit their only three of the game with 49 seconds left to make it 53-52 SVSU. Meredith came up with a crucial steal and a defensive rebound, both leading to two made free throws to extend the lead to 57-52. TMU hit the final shot of the game as the buzzer sounded to make it a three-point game, but the victory for SVSU was already sealed.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley women's basketball wraps up non-conference play on Sunday. The Cardinals host Tiffin at 1:00 PM at James E. O'Neill Arena before the holiday break. They head to Ferris State on January 2 to kick off the 2025 calendar year.
